Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH is to pay €1.18 billion to acquire NBE-Therapeutics GmbH, a Swiss developer of antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs), in order to expand its portfolio of drugs targeting difficult-to-treat solid tumours. NBE-Therapeutics’ lead compound NBE-002 is currently in Phase 1 clinical studies for triple negative breast cancer, an aggressive form of breast cancer with limited treatment options.
Forbion Capital Partners of the Netherlands has secured €460 million for an oversubscribed fifth fund, the proceeds of which will be used to build a portfolio of 15 companies developing new medical therapeutics. About 80% of the investments are expected to be made in Europe, with the balance targeting assets in North America.
Syncona Ltd has provided £26.6 million in Series A funding to Resolution Therapeutics Ltd, a company it founded in August 2020 to exploit the wound healing capabilities of macrophages. Macrophages are cells of the innate immune system involved in the inflammatory response to injury or infection as well as in orchestrating the wound healing process that follows.
Artios Pharma Ltd has negotiated a collaboration potentially worth up to $6.9 billion with Merck KGaA to develop new oncology compounds on up to eight targets using technology that kills cancer cells by blocking their ability to repair damaged DNA. The technology, known as DNA damage response, targets the genetic background of tumours irrespective of where they are located in the body.
France-based MaaT Pharma SA has raised additional money through a government supported programme to accelerate development of a fermentation process for its microbiome-based products. Bpifrance, the national investment bank, has secured an additional €7.35 million for the company in an extension to an existing Series B financing round. This brings the total raised from the round to €25.35 million.
A Swiss start-up co-founded by a former executive at Roche has raised CHF 54 million in a Series A financing round to advance projects for orphan neurological disorders including four products in-licensed from Roche. The company, Noema Pharma AG, was launched in 2019 with seed funding from Sofinnova Partners. Now, less than two years later, it has a pipeline of clinical stage assets.
The German biotech Adrenomed AG has raised €22 million from existing investors to carry forward studies of adrecizumab, its clinical stage monoclonal antibody for the treatment of septic shock. The company is due to present new efficacy data for the compound at a conference on 2 to 4 December.
Destiny Pharma Plc has raised £10.4 million from a share placement and open offer which will finance the acquisition of an anti-infective asset shown to have promise in preventing infection from the bacteria Clostridium difficile. The new shares are to be listed on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange.
ReNeuron Group Plc has raised £15 million in a share placement with investors enabling it to expand an ongoing study of a cell therapy for retinitis pigmentosa as well as support work with exosomes. The placement was conducted on the AIM market in London and the results were announced on 24 November.
Entrepreneurs from Belgium, the Netherlands and the US have joined forces to develop a treatment that might dampen the hyperactive immune responses experienced by patients with Covid-19 associated acute respiratory distress syndrome. These cytokine storms arise when potentially lethal amounts of cytokines and chemokines are released by the body in response to viral infections. The goal is to treat these inflammatory reactions efficiently and safely.