Allecra Therapeutics, a three-year old biotech company co-located in Germany and France, has raised €22 million in a Series B investment round to finance the development of an antibiotic combination therapy designed to treat Gram-negative bacteria.
Gilde Healthcare Partners BV has raised €250 million for its fourth life science fund that targets investments in medical devices, digital health technology and therapeutics in Europe and North America. Koninklijke Philips NV acted as a cornerstone investor.
The European Medicines Agency has agreed to give an accelerated review of a gene therapy being developed by Kite Pharma Inc that promises to improve the standard of care for patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), a type of blood cancer.
A Phase 1 study of 18 patients with severe osteoarthritis of the knee has shown that a single injection of stem cells derived from the patients’ own adipose tissue was safe and appeared to offer relief from pain.
Vedanta Bioscience Inc has raised $50 million in equity finance to advance candidate therapies targeting the human microbiome for the treatment of infectious and autoimmune diseases.
Ablynx NV, a Belgian developer of antibody fragments originating in llamas, has raised €74.2 million with a private placement of new shares.
Life Sciences Partners BV has closed its fifth fund, LSP 5, with a total investment of $280 million, comfortably higher than its initial target of $170 million. The fund will aim to invest in around 20 companies across the healthcare sector.
Novacyt SA, a listed French cellular diagnostics company, has raised €1.4 million from a private equity placement in order to help finance the expansion of its recently acquired UK company Primerdesign, which has technology for analysing bacteria and viruses.
Shire Plc completed its acquisition of Baxalta Inc on 3 June to create a global company focused on developing drugs for rare diseases and other specialised conditions. The $32 billion deal comprises payments in both cash and Shire equity.
Researchers at KU Leuven in Belgium have used cell cultures to show that a prospective antiretroviral medicine called LEDGIN has the potential to put HIV-1 into remission. The research will still need to be tested in mice before it can progress to humans.