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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@axialsprawl.com
Life Sciences Financings and Commentary #17 - July 18, 2020 - July 24, 2020
Financings
Number of deals: 22 & Total capital invested: $627M
- Adagio Therapeutics raised $50M with Polaris and Mithril Capital co-leading the round to spin out of Adimab and develop prophylactic antibodies against COVID-19. Approaches like these will likely have a larger impact on patients over the next 1-2 years than vaccine development. Regneron is also doing great work here as well - https://xconomy.com/boston/2020/07/16/adimab-spinout-adagio-raises-50m-for-coronavirus-antibody-rd/
- Angle Health raised $4M led by Blumberg Capital to build an insurance carrier for startups. Founders are ex-Palantir.
- Antengene raised $97M led by Fidelity to develop medicines in oncology and hematology in China.
- Cohere Health raised $10M led by Flare Capital Partners to create a collaboration software product to help physicians and health plans to work together.
- CurvaFix raised $10.8M led by Sectoral Asset Management to develop medical devices to repair fractures in curved bones focusing on pelvic fractures.
- Elevation Oncology raised $32.5M led by Aisling Capital to develop their antibody medicine the company bought from Merrimack against NRG1 fusion solid tumors - https://www.wsj.com/articles/cancer-drug-startup-elevation-oncology-gets-32-5-million-lift-11595329200
- Encoded Therapeutics raised $135M led by GV to bring their gene therapy for Dravet syndrome through the clinic.
- Forge Biologics raised $40M led by Xontogeny (Perceptive) to build a hybrid CDMO and gene therapy business model in Ohio. The initial focus is on Krabbe Disease.
- Joywell Foods raised $6.9M led by Evolv Ventures to commercialize their miraculin production platform. The story of miraculin and artificial sweeteners in general is something to look into.
- NDR Medical Technology raised $5.8M led by Microport Scientific to develop an automated needle targeting system for surgeries - https://www.dealstreetasia.com/stories/ndr-medical-microport-197921/
- Neurovalens raised £5.1M from Wharton Asset Management Company among others to develop non-invasive neurostimulation products for afflictions like obesity and anxiety.
- Olema Oncology raised $54M co-led by BVF, Janus Henderson, and Logos Capital to develop new medicines for women’s cancers.
- OrthoFX raised $13M led by SignalFire to build software-enabled services for orthodontics and teeth straightening.
- Readout Health raised $2.2M led by iSelect to develop digital biomarkers for metabolic disease.
- Roundtrip raised $4M from UH Ventures, Grays Ferry Capital, and others to build a transportation marketplace for healthcare companies and patients. Uber could just blow them out of the water if this gets large.
- SAB Biotherapeutics raised $14M led by Merck to produce fully human polyclonal antibodies without the need for plasma donors focusing on T1D and COVID-19 - http://www.finsmes.com/2020/07/sab-biotherapeutics-raises-14m-in-series-b-funding.html
- Seer raised $55M to continue development of their proteomics platform. The method relies on nanoparticles to purify select proteins and run mass spec on them - https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-17033-7#author-information The plan is to launch the product in 2021 and build an Illumina-like business model - https://www.biocentury.com/article/305776
- Sidecar Health raised $20M led by Cathay Innovation to build a product to allow patients to pay for their care directly. It seems like an HSA product.
- Sprout raised $10M from General Catalyst, Bling Capital, and Felicis Ventures to build a software product for home autism care.
- T3 Pharmaceuticals raised 27M CHF from Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund among others to repurpose the bacterial type III secretion system for drug deliver in oncology - https://www.bioworld.com/articles/480958-t3-pharma-closes-27m-series-c-for-live-bacteria-cancer-immunotherapy?v=preview
- Tasso raised $17M led by Hambrecht Ducera Growth Ventures to commercialize their at-home blood testing kit that delivers a whole dried blood sample to clinicians.
- Tubulis raised €10.7M from BioMedPartners and High-Tech and Gründerfonds to develop antibody-drug conjugates with two preclinical assets.
Exits
Number of exits: 6 & Total exit value: Over $2B
- Annexon filed to raise a $150M IPO to develop new medicines for complement-mediated diseases - https://sec.report/Document/0001193125-20-186799/
- Eureka Therapeutics Chinese subsidiary was acquired by JW Therapeutics for an undisclosed amount to bring in TCR and solid tumor technology with exclusive use in China.
- Freeline Therapeutics filed for an $100M IPO to develop gene therapies against diseases like hemophilia A/B and Fabry disease - https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1810031/000119312520194813/d857852df1.htm
- Inozyme Pharma filed to raise an $75M IPO to develop new medicines for rare disease patients focusing on abnormal mineralization impacting the vasculature, soft tissue and skeleton - https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1693011/000119312520195044/d919364ds1a.htm
- Nurix Therapeutics raised $209M in an IPO to bring their targeted degradation drugs in oncology through the clinic. The company has done a really great job at mapping out various E3 ligases for therapeutic purposes - https://sec.report/Document/0001193125-20-186809/
- Sunshine Guojian raised $248M in a public offering in Shanghai to bring their pipeline of antibodies through the clinic. The company’s lead asset is a recombinant human type II tumor necrosis factor receptor-antibody fusion protein to treat rheumatoid arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, and psoriasis - https://www.bioworld.com/articles/480641-chinas-sunshine-guojian-prices-240m-ipo-on-star-shares-jump-92-on-first-day?v=preview
Deals
Number of deals: 5 & Total deal value: ~$1B
- BeiGene in-licensed 3 medicines in development from Assembly Biosciences for exclusive use in China in a deal worth up to $540M - https://www.bioworld.com/articles/471820-some-assembly-required-beigene-finds-hbv-partner-in-540m-deal?v=preview
- Gilead paid $300M for a 49.9% equity stake in Tizona Therapeutics to get access to the latter’s anti-CD39 antibody in oncology - https://www.fiercebiotech.com/biotech/partnered-and-backed-by-abbvie-but-cancer-i-o-biotech-tizona-targeted-by-gilead
- GSK acquired a 10% stake in CureVac to gain access to their mRNA technology particularly for COVID-19 - https://www.reuters.com/article/us-gsk-curevac-stake/gsk-buys-10-of-curevac-in-vaccine-tech-deal-idUSKCN24L0JR
- Roche announced a multi-target deal with Jnana Therapeutics with $40M in an upfront payment to discover new drugs against SLC transports for immune-related and neurological diseases - https://www.bioworld.com/articles/476558-roche-backs-jnana-quest-to-drug-slc-transporters-with-40m-down-payment
- Takeda announced an antibody discovery agreement with Twist Bioscience to use their phage display libraries to discover new antibody drugs - https://www.bioworld.com/articles/477180-takeda-puts-twist-on-innovative-rd-efforts?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 -