Finance, Grants, Deals

Roche has expanded its diagnostic capabilities with the acquisition of Seattle, US-based Stratos Genomics Inc, an early-stage sequencing technology company. The deal was announced on 22 May but financial details were not disclosed.

Stratos has patented technology for converting DNA into polymers that are reportedly easy to read. In principle this makes it possible to sequence DNA at a higher speed and lower cost than existing methods. The technology is called sequencing by expansion (SBX) and will be used in a nanopore sequencer that is being developed by Roche.

Moderna Inc was set to raise gross proceeds of about $1.34 billion from a public share offering that was launched hours after the company reported positive interim data from a Phase 1 study of its messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccine for COVID-19. The company is issuing 17.6 million shares at a price of $76 per share. The offering is expected to close on 21 May. Proceeds will be used to finance the cost of manufacturing its COVID-19 vaccine which still has to complete clinical development and be approved by a regulator.

Abivax SA is to receive €36 million in non-dilutive funding from Bpifrance, the investment bank of the French state, to conduct a Phase 2b/3 study of its anti-inflammatory drug ABX464 in high-risk patients with COVID-19. The randomised, double-blind and placebo-controlled trial will recruit 1,034 elderly or high-risk patients at sites in France and elsewhere in Europe.

Switzerland-based ADC Therapeutics SA has returned to the US stock market to launch an initial public offering of its shares after cancelling a proposed offering in October 2019. The latest offering was expected to close on 19 May and indications were that it would raise a gross $232.7 million. The company is issuing 12.2 million shares at a price of $19 per share on the New York Stock Exchange. The Swiss company had prepared an IPO in 2019 but cancelled the event owing to adverse market conditions.

European investors, including INKEF Capital and the Dementia Discovery Fund, have joined a large syndicate of other institutions to raise $42 million in Series A money for QurAlis Corp of Cambridge, US enabling it to progress new therapies in neurodegeneration. Besides INKEF and Dementia Discovery, the round was led by LS Polaris Innovation Fund and Mission BioCapital. QurAlis intends to use the funds to support development of therapies for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) as well as the genetically related frontotemporal dementia.

Netherlands-based Kiadis Pharma NV has raised €17 million in two private share placements enabling the cell therapy company to advance products for patients with both liquid and solid tumours. On 6 May, not long after the financing completed, the company received notice from US Food and Drug Administration that it could proceed with a Phase 2 study of its lead product – an adjunctive cell therapy for blood cancer patients undergoing a haploidentical haematopoietic stem cell transplant.

The UK Medical Research Council, a public body, and LifeArc, an independent charity, are making £16 million available to establish a network of centres that will offer clinical grade viral vectors and translational and regulatory guidance to support academic-led patient trials of new gene therapies.

Grants for up to five years will support these gene therapy innovation hubs which will form a centrally coordinated network designed to enable the sharing of knowledge across all of the units, the two organisations said on 4 May.

Switzerland-based Santhera Pharmaceuticals Holding AG is to work with Peter Yurchenco of Rutgers University, US on a novel gene therapy approach for treating a congenital muscular dystrophy caused by mutations in the LAMA2 gene. Santhera has entered into two agreements, the first with the university and the second with Prof Yurchenco, to research gene replacement as a therapy for LAMA2-related muscular dystrophy.

Belgium-based Bone Therapeutics SA has extended its financial runway into the second quarter of 2021 after negotiating equity, bond and loan deals that yielded €15 million in new capital. The proceeds will be used to advance two lead assets for bone health into late-stage development.

BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc has taken steps to extend its footprint in gene therapy with a preclinical collaboration with Dinaqor AG of Switzerland to develop therapies for rare genetic cardiomyopathies. Cardiomyopathies are diseases of the heart muscle, a significant proportion of which are inherited. Dinaqor will received an undisclosed upfront payment from BioMarin and is eligible for development, regulatory and commercial milestones. BioMarin is also investing in the Swiss company.