More well thought out work can be found at — https://axial.substack.com/
Axial partners with great founders and inventors. We invest in early-stage life sciences companies often when they are no more than an idea. We are fanatical about helping the rare inventor who is compelled to build their own enduring business. If you or someone you know has a great idea or company in life sciences, Axial would be excited to get to know you and possibly invest in your vision and company . We are excited to be in business with you - email us at info@axialsprawl.com
Life Sciences Financings and Commentary #19 - August 1, 2020 - August 7, 2020
Financings
Number of deals: 11 & Total capital invested: $817.6M
- Aerovate Therapeutics raised $72.6M led by Sofinnova Investments to develop new medicines for rare cardiopulmonary disease.
- ANA Therapeutics raised $5M to repurpose niclosamide from being used as a male contraceptive to a COVID-19 drug. Good luck - https://news.crunchbase.com/news/ana-therapeutics-raises-5m-seed-secures-fda-clearance-for-covid-19-treatment/
- Ginger raised $50M co-led by Advance Venture Partners and Bessemer Venture Partners to scale their on-demand mental health product.
- IgGenix raised $10M led by Khosla Ventures to develop medicines for food allergies.
- Indigo Agriculture raised $360M from Alaska Permanent Fund and Flagship Pioneering to build out their marketplace and microbial products to help growers increase crop yields and their profitability.
- Obsidio raised $3M led by IAG Capital Partners to develop medical devices/biomaterials for embolization.
- PMV Pharmaceuticals raised $70M from RA Capital Management, Wellington, OrbiMed, Nextech, Viking Global, and Boxer Capital to develop drugs against p53 in oncology.
- Sight Diagnostics raised $71M from Koch Disruptive Technologies, Longliv Ventures and OurCrowd to develop a complete blood count device.
-Taysha Gene Therapies raised $95M led by Fidelity to develop gene therapies for monogenic CNS diseases.
- T-Knife raised $78M with Versant Ventures and RA Capital Management co-leading the round to develop TCR therapies against solid tumors. The key technology is to humanize TCRs in mice to improve the translational predictivity of their platform - https://www.bioworld.com/articles/496559-t-knife-raises-78m-in-series-a-for-tcr-platfor and https://www.biospace.com/article/germany-s-t-knife-closes-66-million-series-a/
- Trobix Bio raised $3M led by Chartered Opus to develop phage medicines to reverse antimicrobial resistance.
Exits
Number of exits: 7 & Total exit value: Over $30B
- Ancestry.comwas acquired by Blackstone for $4.7B. I guess personal genomic data will split into various fiefdoms - https://www.blackstone.com/press-releases/article/blackstone-to-acquire-ancestry-leading-online-family-history-business-for-4-7-billion/
- Checkmate Pharmaceuticals filed for a $75M IPO to bring their pipeline of immunotherapy drugs for oncology through the clinic - https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1651431/000119312520207212/d913691ds1a.htm
- GoodRx filed for an IPO to grow their prescription coupon business. Great company - https://www.reuters.com/article/us-goodrx-ipo-exclusive/exclusive-prescription-drug-marketplace-goodrx-files-for-ipo-sources-idUSKBN24Y0N6
- Jacobio Pharmaceuticals filed for a ~$400M IPO to develop new cancer medicines focusing on China - https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-08-05/hillhouse-backed-biotech-firm-jacobio-said-to-plan-hong-kong-ipo?srnd=deals&sref=7H70AtGu
- Kymera Therapeutics filed for a $100M IPO to bring their protein degradation drug candidates into the clinic - https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1815442/000119312520206645/d940105ds1.htm
- PainReform filed to raise $23M in an IPO to develop new medicines for post-operative pain - https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1801834/000121390020020351/ea124501-f1a1_painreform.htm
- Teladoc Health agreed to purchase Livongo Health for $18.5B in a mostly stock deal. Really exciting deal to combine a telemedicine product with a digital health product focused on chronic disease.
Deals
Number of deals: 1 & Total deal value: ~$2B
- Denali Therapeutics announced a deal with Biogen with a $560M upfront payment and a $465M investment from Biogen with another $1.125B in milestones to co-develop and co-commercialize small molecule drugs against LRRK2 for Parkinson’s - https://www.bioworld.com/articles/496570-biogen-bets-big-on-denalis-neurodegenerative-pipeline-with-1b-commitment
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 -