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Life Sciences Financings and Commentary #32 - October 31, 2020 - November 6, 2020
Financings
Number of deals: 9 & Total capital invested: ~$550M
- Aditum Bio raised $135M for a first fund to buy preclinical programs and spin them into companies to carry out phase 1/2 clinical work. The company is founded by the former Novartis CEO and NIBR head with a partnership with TrialSpark to reduce clinical trial costs - https://www.bioworld.com/articles/499668-formed-by-former-novartis-ceo-aditum-bio-fund-looks-to-target-treatment-gaps?v=preview
- CARsgen Therapeutics raised $186M led by Loyal Velly Capital to develop autologous CAR-T cell therapies and antibody therapeutics for oncology for the US and Chinese markets. It’s clinical pipeline includes CAR-T therapies targeting BCMA (multiple myeloma), CD19 (NHL), claudin18.2 positive tumors.
- Cytek Biosciences raised $120M co-led by Hillhouse Capital and RA Capital Management to commercialize their compact and low-cost flow cytometers.
- Human API raised $20M from Samsung Ventures, Allianz Life Ventures among others to scale their products that allows patients to share their health data with other companies and institutions. Enabling patients to control their data is inevitable; it will be interesting how regulations and payments work here for Human API.
- Koa Health raised €30M co-led by Wellington Ventures and Ancora Finance Group to scale their software product for employees’ mental well-being.
- Momi Brands raised $1M from Kapstone Medical and Enventys Partners to develop a new breast pump and feeding products for infants.
- Protomer Technologies raised a seed round from JDRF T1D Fund and Eli Lilly to develop their protein engineering platform from Caltech and their first product, a glucose-responsive insulin drug.
- Shoulder Innovations raised $21.6M led by US Venture Partners and Lightstone Ventures to develop orthopedic solutions for shoulder replacement surgery. The company offers Total Shoulder Replacement System, a glenoid implant to reconstruct deficient bone. The company also provides instrumentation required to implant the company’s Total Shoulder System.
- The Protein Brewery raised $26M led by Novo Holdings to develop proteins from non-animal sources. Their first product is a protein from microbes they are calling Fermotein - https://www.theproteinbrewery.nl/key-properties
Exits
Number of exits: 4 & Total exit value: ~$4.8B
- Emisphere Technologies was acquired by Novo Nordisk for $1.35B to fully own Emisphere’s drug delivery technology Eligen, which facilitates the enhanced oral absorption of molecules without altering their chemical form, biological integrity, or pharmacological properties. Novo Nordisk is currently using Emisphere’s delivery technology under an existing license agreement in its oral formulation of a GLP-1 receptor agonist semaglutide, which is marketed and sold under the brand name Rybelsus - https://endpts.com/novo-nordisk-bolts-on-a-holy-grail-oral-delivery-platform-in-1-8b-buyout/
- JW Therapeutics raised $300M in a public offering on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange mainly to move their lead product, relma-cel, a CD19 targeting CAR-T cell therapy through the clinic for r/r B-cell lymphoma in China. The company was created through a partnership between Juno Therapeutics and Wuxi Apptec in February 2016 to focus on cell therapies in China - https://www.bioworld.com/articles/499732-jw-therapeutics-launches-300m-ipo-in-hong-kong-targets-first-car-t-approval-in-china
- Kiadis was acquired by Sanofi for ~$359M to gain full ownership of K-NK004, a CD38-deleted NK cell therapy, which it plans to test in combination with its recently approved CD38-directed antibody, Sarclisa, in an upcoming trial in multiple myeloma. The combination is designed to enhance the antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity effect of the antibody on malignant plasma cells, as the action of the infused NK cells will not be impaired by the antibody. Wild-type NK cells, in contrast, express CD38 and would be eliminated by the antibody - https://www.fiercebiotech.com/biotech/sanofi-inks-358m-kiadis-takeover-to-acquire-nk-cell-platform
- VelosBio was announced to be acquired by Merck for $2.75B to bring on board their pipeline of cancer therapies targeting receptor tyrosine kinase-like orphan receptor 1 (ROR1). The company’s follow-on programs include next-generation antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) and bispecific immune-engagers targeting ROR1 - https://www.fiercebiotech.com/biotech/merck-inks-2-8b-velosbio-buyout-to-snag-anti-ror1-adc
Deals
Number of deals: 2 & Total deal value: $388M
- Ocular Therapeutix announced a partnership with Affarmed to develop and commercialize Dextenza and OTX-TIC (from Ocular) in greater China and South Korea for $12M upfront and $91M in potential royalties. DEXTENZA is currently approved in the US for the treatment of post-surgical ocular inflammation and pain and is being developed as a potential treatment for allergic conjunctivitis. OTX-TIC is in development for the reduction of elevated intraocular pressure in patients with primary open-angle glaucoma or ocular hypertension - https://www.bioworld.com/articles/499634-ocular-and-affamed-strike-a-103m-deal-to-develop-dextenza-in-asia?v=preview
- Telix Pharmaceuticals announced a ~$285M deal with China Grand Pharma for Telix’s portfolio of Molecularly-Targeted Radiation products in prostate, renal and brain (glioblastoma) cancer - https://www.bioworld.com/articles/499731-telix-inks-au400m-deal-with-china-grand-pharma-that-sets-asia-expansion-in-motion?v=preview
I used to play football a long time ago - I had some decent success mainly because of my teammates with some of them playing in the NFL. Every practice, every game was an existential fight. I’m not that athletic so every year some 6’4 monster would show up trying to take my spot. Similarly, all of these companies are fighting for their right to exist whether they raised $1M or $100M. Building a great business requires passion and focus. A really powerful and useful framework to lead groups of people and win was developed by Bill Walsh -