The French start-up company Corteria Pharmaceuticals has raised €65 million in an oversubscibed Series A financing to progress its candidate therapies for heart failure. Announced on 7 September, the financing was co-led by Jeito Capital and Orbimed with participation from the existing investors Kurma Partners, Fountain Healthcare Partners, V-Bio Ventures, Invivo Capital, and Omnes Capital.
Sofinnova Investments has led a $90 million Series C financing round for Star Therapeutics Inc, the proceeds of which will support one of Star’s portfolio companies called Vega Therapeutics. Based in South San Francisco, US, Star is a biotechnology company consisting of subsidiary enterprises which are each focused on developing products based on specific areas of biology.
In addition to Sofinnova, investors in the oversubscribed round included the Qatar Investment Authority, Catalio Capital Management, Agent Capital, Soleus Capital and NYBC Ventures.
The private equity group Permira has made an offer to buy Ergomed Plc, a UK-based contract research organisation (CRO), for approximately £703 million. The offer represents a 32.4% premium to the three-month volume weighted average price per Ergomed share and will be executed through a newly incorporated company controlled by funds advised by Permira Advisors LLP. Ergomed has been listed on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange since 2014 when it raised £11 million through an initial public offering.
Mysthera Therapeutics AG made its debut in Switzerland on 21 August with $3.5 million of seed capital and a plan to develop new therapies for autoimmune diseases. The company is being supported by Forty51 Ventures, a Basel-based venture capital firm focused on early-stage investments in biotech with a geographic emphasis on Switzerland, France and Germany.
SSI Strategy Holdings LLC, a US-based life science consultancy, is to acquire the NDA Group AB of Sweden in a move that will expand its repertoire of services for pharmaceutical and biotech companies to include regulatory advice as well as support for drug development. The combined group will have a commercial presence across the US and Europe with a capacity to provide services from clinical development to medical affairs and regulation, including the use of real-world evidence to evaluate the effectiveness of new drugs.
Novo Nordisk A/S is to pay up to $1.075 billion in cash to acquire Inversago Pharma Inc of Canada in order to expand its portfolio of assets for treating serious metabolic disorders. The Danish company currently has a leading position in the global market for diabetes and obesity treatments. The acquisition will give it a clinical-stage product for diabetic kidney disease and other assets for metabolic and fibrotic disorders.
Bactolife A/S, a Danish bioindustrial company, has raised €30 million in Series A financing to develop and commercialise a new protein-based product to strengthen the gut microbiome of humans and animals. The goal is reduce gastrointestinal infections and resistance to antibiotics.
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc, a developer of antibody therapeutics, is to acquire Decibel Therapeutics Inc, giving it ownership of three gene therapy programmes targeting different types of congenital, monogenic hearing loss. The two companies have been collaborating since 2017 and are now taking their lead therapy for congenital hearing loss forward to the clinic. The transaction, announced on 9 August, will involve a cash payment by Regeneron to Decibel of $4 per share for the target company’s common stock.
Biogen Inc is to add another marketed product to its portfolio of treatments for neurological diseases with the acquisition of Reata Pharmaceuticals Inc in a deal valued at $7.3 billion. Announced on 28 July, the deal involves a cash payment to Reata’s shareholders of $172.50 per share. The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter and will be slightly dilutive to Biogen’s earnings per share in 2023, roughly neutral in 2024, and accretive beginning in 2025. Biogen expects to finance the acquisition with cash on hand, supplemented by the issuance of debt.
The Medicxi investment group has raised $400 million for a fourth investment fund, enabling it to continue supporting entrepreneurs with unique projects. “Our mission is to support the innovative genius of entrepreneurs by providing the critical capital, expertise and experience that form the all-important bridge to pharma,” said Francesco De Rubertis, co-founder and partner of the group, in a statement issued on 27 July.