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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@axialvc.com
Life Sciences Financings and Commentary #21 - August 15, 2020 - August 21, 2020
Financings
Number of deals: 9 & Total capital invested: $253.6M
- Aerin Medical raised $48M led by Questaa Capital to develop non-invasive medical procedures for nasal conditions - https://www.wsj.com/articles/aerin-medical-grabs-48-million-for-nasal-airway-treatments-11597709816
- Carrot Fertility raised $24M led by USVP to scale their digital health fertility business - https://fortune.com/2020/08/18/carrot-fertility-series-b-funding/
- Castor raised $12M led by Two Sigma Ventures to scale their decentralized clinical trial product focusing on data capture between patients, clinicians, devices, CROs, and biopharma.
- Cecelia Health raised $13M co-led by Rittenhouse Ventures and Endo Investors to build digital health products for diabetes and other chronic diseases.
- Exo raised $40M from Action Potential Venture Capital and Intel Capital to develop a new ultrasound device for diagnostics.
- ImmPACT Bio raised $18M from OrbiMed, Takeda Ventures, Novartis Venture Fund among others to develop new cell therapies focused on oncology - https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/immpact-bio-usa-inc-raises-18-million-in-series-a-financing-301113520.html
- Podimetrics raised $8.6M from Polaris Partners among others to build a digital health and virtual care product for patients with diabetic foot ulcers.
- Science 37 raised $40M from Lux Capital, Redmile Group, and PPD to scale their decentralized clinical trial product. They already have a partnership with Novartis, and Science 37 recently got a new CEO.
- Tango Therapeutics raised $50M led by Casdin Capital to develop their target oncology medicines. The company also announced an expansion of their Gilead partnership.
Exits
Number of exits: 4 & Total exit value: Over $12B
- Harmony Biosciences raised $128M in an IPO to develop new medicines for adult narcolepsy - https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1802665/000119312520217849/d755703ds1a.htm
- Momenta Pharmaceuticals was acquired by Johnson & Johnson for $6.5M to gain access to the former’s antibody drug in phase 3 trials for warm autoimmune hemolytic anemia and phase 2 trials for myasthenia gravis - https://www.reuters.com/article/us-momenta-pharm-m-a-johnson-johnson/jj-strikes-6-5-billion-deal-for-autoimmune-disease-specialist-momenta-idUSKCN25F1AD
- Kymera Therapeutics raised $174M in an IPO to develop their preclinical pipeline of selective degrader drugs - https://endpts.com/kymera-raising-173m-becomes-the-48th-biotech-ipo-of-the-year-as-2020-surpasses-2019/
- Principia Biopharma was acquired by Sanofi for $3.7B to bring Principia’s BTK inhibitor for MS to its pipeline and make a broader move into autoimmunity - https://www.fiercebiotech.com/biotech/sanofi-goes-all-principia-paying-3-7b-to-take-full-control-late-phase-ms-asset
Deals
Number of deals: 2 & Total deal value: ~$3B
- Hua Medicine partnered with Bayer to commercialize dorzagliatin to treat diabetes in China. Dorzagliatin is a first-in-class dual-acting glucokinase activator, designed to control the progressive degenerative nature of diabetes by restoring glucose homeostasis in patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D) - https://www.bioworld.com/articles/496861-hua-teams-up-with-bayer-for-dorzagliatin-as-diabetes-treatment-in-china
- Tango Therapeutics expanded their deal with Gilead by ~$1.5B to develop new medicines in oncology. Tango will continue to use its CRISPR-enabled functional genomics target discovery platform to develop cancer immune-evasion therapies for Gilead. The number of targets covered is rising to 15, as Tango collects a $125 million up-front payment. Gilead has options to worldwide rights for programs directed at the targets over the next seven years and is making a $20 million equity investment, gaining the right to option up to all 15 programs, paying as much as $410 million per program in opt-in, extension and milestone payments. Tango will retain up to low double-digit tiered royalties. For products that Tango chooses to co-develop and co-promote, the parties will share 50-50 profits and losses as well as development costs in the U., with Tango drawing milestone payments and royalties on ex-US sales - https://www.bioworld.com/articles/496796-tangos-evasive-tactics-confronted-by-wider-gilead-terms-6b-plus-potential-in-cancer-deal
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 -