News

Confo Therapeutics wins support

Country
Belgium

Five years after raising €30 million in a Series A financing round, Confo Therapeutics NV has completed another fundraising – this time for €60 million to advance a pipeline of therapies that modulate G-protein coupled receptors, one of the most difficult set of targets for drug development. The new round was led by Ackermans & van Haaren and included participation from the new investors Driehaus Capital Management and Quest for Growth.

Finance for medical technology company

Country
United States

A US medical device company with a product designed to help patients at risk of heart failure has received $196 million in new finance to support the commercialisation of a wearable defibrillator product. Kestra Medical Technologies Inc, which is located in Kirkland, Washington, with a presence in Ireland, is a privately-held company established in 2014. 

Roche highlights approvals

Country
Switzerland

The Roche Group reported sales of CHF 29.8 billion ($33.7 billion) in the first half, unchanged from a year earlier on a reported basis but up by 5% at constant exchange rates. With product sales reviving and several regulatory approvals in hand, the company plans to increase its dividend in Swiss francs this year. Further details were not provided.

Sanofi builds pipeline

Country
France

Sanofi SA ended the second quarter with sales of €10.7 billion, up by 7.8% from a year earlier and propelled by the continuing strong performance of Dupixent, the biologic co-developed with Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. Dupixent generated €3.3 billion in the period, or nearly a third of group sales. Altogether, pharmaceutical products delivered €8.3 billion and vaccines, €1.14 billion. The company’s consumer business, which will be spun out in the fourth quarter, at the earliest, produced revenue of €.1.3 billion.

AZ upgrades forecast

Country
United Kingdom

Following strong growth across its drug portfolio in the first half year, AstraZeneca Plc has upgraded its revenue and profit forecast for 2024 and reaffirmed its target for revenue at the end of the decade. Pascal Soriot, the chief executive, told journalists on 25 July that the company expects to deliver a mid-teen percentage increase in revenue and core earnings per share this year and a revenue figure of $80 billion by 2030. The 2030 forecast would represent a significant increase from the $45.8 billion delivered in 2023.

Funding for Parkinson’s disease drug

Country
United Kingdom

Mission Therapeutics Ltd of the UK, which is developing therapies targeting mitochondrial dysfunction, has received $5.2 million in grant funding to progress its lead small molecule drug for Parkinson’s disease into early clinical development. The award comes from the Michael J Fox Foundation and Parkinson’s UK and follows the disclosure of promising data from healthy volunteers that the drug, MTX325, has a good safety profile and can penetrate the blood-brain barrier. 

Robust sales at Novartis

Country
Switzerland

Novartis reported net sales of $12.5 billion in the second quarter, up by 9% from a year earlier on a reported basis, and by 11% at constant exchange rates. Driving growth were double digit increases for five products, and a 133% increase for Leqvio, a drug approved for treating cholesterol. On the strength of the sales increase, the company’s operating income rose by 43% to $4 billion on an IFRS basis. The non-IFRS operating result, excluding amortisation and impairment charges, was $5 billion, up by 17%. Sales’ volumes contributed 15 percentage points to the top line.

Syndicate funds Asceneuron

Country
Switzerland

A venture syndicate led by Novo Holdings A/S, with participation from EQT Life Sciences, has raised $100 million for Asceneuron SA enabling it to advance a new product for Alzheimer’s disease. Based in Lausanne, Switzerland, Asceneuron is developing a small molecule drug, ASN51, that inhibits an enzyme implicated in the aggregation of proteins in the brain. This is thought to have application for both Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases, as well as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

Destiny Pharma to go private

Country
United Kingdom

Destiny Pharma Plc has decided to exit the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange and go private in order to raise money for the Phase 3 development of its lead antibiotic product XF-73 Nasal. The wholly-owned product delivered promising data in a Phase 2 study and has been poised for the next stage pending a licensing partner.

Financing for German biotech

Country
Germany

A syndicate of leading European and US investors has raised €63 million for SciRhom GmbH of Germany which is developing a treatment for autoimmune diseases by modulating an enzyme controlling several major signalling pathways. The Series A financing will enable SciRhom to bring its lead product candidate – a monoclonal antibody – into clinical development before the end of the year. The investment round was co-led by Andera Partners, Kurma Partners, Hadean Ventures, MIG Capital and Wellington Partners. PhiFund Ventures of the US also participated.