A new oncology joint venture has been set up in the UK to exploit the gene editing capabilities of Horizon Discovery Group Plc and aptamer technology developed in the US and owned by Centauri Therapeutics Ltd, a UK anti-infectives company.
NeuroVive Pharmaceutical AB, a Swedish biotech specialising in mitochondria protection, is planning to raise SEK 94.4 million (€10.14 million) to finance completion of two Phase 2 studies for its kidney and brain injury compounds.
Privately-owned Akarna Therapeutics Ltd has raised $15 million in a Series B financing round to advance a preclinical drug for non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), a fatty-liver disease that is associated with both diabetes and obesity.
Sweden-based Redwood Pharma AB has raised SEK 6.6 million (€710,000) in a private equity placement to fund the development of a new hydrogel product for chronic dry eye disease in post-menopausal women.
UK-based Oxford BioMedica Plc is raising £8.1 million with a fully underwritten share placement to finance the expansion of its lentiviral vector manufacturing capacity and advance the clinical development of its gene therapy portfolio.
Shield Therapeutics Plc has raised £32.5 million in an initial public offering of shares on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange in the wake of a positive opinion from the European Medicines Agency for its drug for iron deficiency anaemia.
Imperial Innovations Group Plc has led a £5 million Series A funding round for the Cambridge University spin-out Aqdot Ltd, a specialist chemical company that has developed a chemical encapsulation technology for use in consumer products.
Greatbatch Inc and Aleva Neurotherapeutics SA of Switzerland are to collaborate on a new device for deep brain stimulation (DBS) for treating Parkinson’s disease and essential tremor. Simultaneously the US company is to lead a Series C financing round for Aleva.
Index Ventures, which started as a small Swiss venture capital company in 1996 with a pilot fund of $17 million and grew into a global growth investor with nearly $6 billion under management, is splitting off its life science business from the rest of the company into an independent organisation that has been incorporated as Medicxi Ventures (UK) LLP.
Enyo Pharma SAS of France has secured €22 million in a Series A funding round to accelerate development of its lead treatment for hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection which targets interactions in the cell that enable the virus to replicate.