Finance, Grants, Deals

In keeping with the widespread interest in precision medicine, OncoDNA SA, a privately held company that identifies cancer treatment options for doctors and patients, has raised €7.7 million in an equity placement.

Cell Medica Ltd has strengthened its hand in the field of T cell therapy with a new collaboration around T cell receptor technology. Having recently expanded a partnership with Baylor College of Medicine in Texas, US, and acquired the Delenex Therapeutics AG antibody company in Switzerland, the company has now entered into a partnership with University College London (UCL) to develop genetically engineered T cell receptor products for cancer.

AstraZeneca Plc is divesting a portfolio of small molecule antibiotics in line with its strategy of generating out-licensing revenue and tightening its therapeutic focus. In a deal announced on 24 August, the UK company said it will sell rights to the portfolio to Pfizer Inc which has a focus on infectious disease.

The London-based private equity firm Cinven Ltd is acquiring the US medical services company Bioclinica Inc for a reported $1.4 billion as an investment for its sixth capital management fund.

In preparation for splitting into two new listed business, Switzerland-based Galenica AG has decided to make a $1.53 billion US acquisition that will help one of the prospective companies, Vifor Pharma, get off to a strong start.

Amylyx Pharmaceuticals Inc has raised $5 million with a Series A equity placement that will top up its financing for a Phase 2 study of AMX0035, an experimental treatment for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).

A Swedish start-up company that links patients with doctors via the internet has raised €6.1 million in seed funding from a syndicate led by Index Ventures and Stockholm-based Creandum AB. Berlin-based Project A Ventures GmbH also participated in the round.

Cambridge Innovation Capital Plc (CIC), which finances projects arising from the University of Cambridge as well as from area biotechs, has raised £75 million in new equity capital from existing and new institutional investors including Woodford Investment Management.

The corporate venture arms of three European pharmaceutical groups are principal investors in a US start-up company called Tioma Therapeutics Inc that is developing antibodies targeting CD47, a protein that is overexpressed on different tumour cells.

After years of investing in a product for stroke that failed, and then relaunching its portfolio around anaesthesia, Paion AG now has its sights firmly set on the commercialisation of its lead product, remimazolam, in the US.