Novartis is to acquire a group of assets directed against inflammatory diseases following the acquisition of IFM Due Inc, a Boston, US-based biotech incubator. The deal is valued at up to $835 million. IFM Due is a subsidiary of IFM Therapeutics Inc, a company that was set up by scientists and venture capitalists in 2015 to discover and develop small molecules modulating targets in the innate immune system, the body’s first line of defence against pathogens.
Capstan Therapeutics Inc, a US biotech company with proprietary lipid nanoparticle technology, closed an oversubscribed Series B financing round on 20 March to advance an in vivo cell therapy product for autoimmune disorders. The round was led by RA Capital Management with participation from five new investors including Forbion, Johnson & Johnson Innovation, and Sofinnova Investments. The proceeds will be used to advance CPTX2309, an in vivo engineered chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy and to further develop the company’s pipeline.
Privately-owned Tubulis GmbH has raised €128 million in an upsized venture round in order to advance its lead antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) products into the clinic. Announced on 14 March, the Series B2 round was co-led by the private equity group EQT Life Sciences and Nextech Invest Ltd of Switzerland. Several US investors participated including Frazier Life Sciences and Deep Track Capital. The financing follows a Series B round of €60 million in 2022.
Phagenesis Ltd, a UK medical technology company, has raised $42 million from EQT Life Sciences, a private equity group based in Sweden, to commercialise its recently approved device for treating swallowing disorders. The money is being provided by EQT’s Health Economics Fund that invests in late clinical stage health technology companies, or those which are just starting to bring their products to the market. Rudy Dekeyser, former managing director of the Belgian research institute VIB, is head of the fund.
Syncona Ltd, the evergreen investment group, announced on 8 February that its portfolio company Autolus Therapeutics Plc is to collaborate with BioNTech SE to develop new therapies in oncology. The project will aim to advance both companies’ CAR T cell programmes towards commercialisation. These include BioNTech’s cell therapy for solid tumours, BNT211, and Autolus’ two CAR T cell therapy programmes, AUTO1/22, and AUTO6NG, for oncology indications. Under the terms of the agreement, BioNTech has agreed to purchase $200 million of Autolus’ American Depositary Shares in a private placement.
Alys Pharmaceuticals Inc, a new company with a preclinical pipeline of candidate drugs for immune-related disorders, was launched on 12 February with $100 million of capital. The company was co-founded by the venture capital group Medicxi and a group of six scientists specialising in immuno-dermatology. The scientific founders are based at institutions in the US, Germany and France and include Craig Mello, professor at the UMass Chan Medical School, US, and winner of a Nobel Prize in 2006 for the discovery of RNA interference.
Germany-based TVM Capital Life Science has co-led a $16 million Series A financing for Vektor Medical Inc, a US medical technology company that has developed a device for the non-invasive analysis of arrhythmias, a condition characterised by irregular or abnormal heartbeats. The co-investor was Solas BioVentures of the US.
The US Food and Drug Administration is to give a priority review to Arexvy, a vaccine for the prevention of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) disease, in the new indication for adults from the ages of 50 to 59 years. Developed by GSK Plc, the vaccine is currently approved for adults 60 years and above. If authorised, Arexvy would be the first vaccine to help protect the new age group against lower respiratory tract disease caused by RSV.
Novartis is to acquire MorphoSys AG for €2.7 billion in cash in order to gain access to pelabresib, a late-stage drug for the treatment of myelofibrosis, a blood cancer caused by genetic abnormalities in bone marrow stem cells. The deal, announced on 5 February, unites two companies with a long history of collaboration in the development of antibody therapeutics.
IMU Biosciences Ltd, a two-year old UK company, has raised £11.5 million from private investors to create a map of the human immune system using artificial intelligence. The goal is be able to monitor the presence of immune disorders early and guide the development of targeted drugs, also known as precision medicines. The Series A financing was announced on 24 January and led by Moulton Ventures Plc. It also included LifeX Ventures and several individuals.