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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 #18 - July 25, 2020 - July 31, 2020
Financings
Number of deals: 24 & Total capital invested: $1.4B
- Alydia Health raised $13.9M led by AXA Investment to develop medical devices for postpartum hemorrhages.
- Dialogue Technologies raised $32.7M from Sun Life to build a telemedicine product for employers in Canada.
- DNA Script raised $50M led by Casdin Capital to scale up their enzymatic DNA synthesis technology. Tough market.
- Eargo raised $71M co-led by Gilde Healthcare and Longitude Capital to develop medical devices for hearing loss.
- ExeVir Bio raised €23M led by Fund+ to use antibodies derived from llamas to treat COVID-19. Prophylactic antibodies are not getting the attention they deserve for the impact they can/will have on patients.
- Geltor raised $91.3M led by CPT Capital to scale their protein production/design platform to gelatin. Congrats Alex.
- Heal raised $100M led by Humana to build an on-demand product for physician house calls. Insurers want to own the primary care/patient relationship more-and-more.
- InSilicoTrials raised €3M led by United Ventures to make a collaborative platform for healthcare simulation models.
- Lemonaid Health raised $33M led by Olive Tree Ventures to continue growth of their telemedicine product focused on drug prescriptions. This is a great business. Great work Paul.
- Mantra Bio raised $25M co-led by 8VC and Viking Global to build out their computation-driven platform for exosome therapeutics and strike up new partnerships with it - https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/mantra-bio-announces-25-million-series-a-financing-to-develop-next-generation-targeted-therapeutics-based-on-platform-for-engineering-targeted-exosome-vehicles-301100664.html
- MBX Biosciences raised $34.6M led by Frazier Healthcare Partners to develop new medicines for rare endocrine diseases - https://www.fiercebiotech.com/biotech/mbx-biosciences-debuts-35m-to-advance-treatments-for-rare-endocrine-diseases
- Mountain Health Technologies raised $1.5M with Matchstick Ventures leading to build a digital health product and maybe a primary care one focused on millennials.
- Nanox raised $59M from SK Telecom, Foxconn, and others to commercialize a portable X-ray device.
- New Age Meats raised $2M from TechU Ventures to continue development of their platform to produce cultured meats
- Nura Bio raised $73M led by The Column Group to develop new neuroprotective drugs.
- Omega Therapeutics raised $85M from Flagship Pioneering to develop new medicines focused on epigenetics - https://www.wsj.com/articles/omega-therapeutics-collects-85-million-in-venture-funding-plans-clinical-trials-11596024000
- Proper raised $9.5M led by Casa Verde Capital to build a digital health product focused on coaching and supplements to improve sleep.
- Ro raised $200M led by General Catalyst to continue scaling their digital health products focused on ED - https://www.cnbc.com/2020/07/27/ro-raises-200-million-at-1point5-billion-valuation-250-million-sales.html
- Sema4 raised $121M led by Blackrock to scale their software platform to improve clinical trials as well as screening in oncology and women’s health.
- Siilo raised $10.5M led by Heal Capital to develop a collaboration app for healthcare professionals.
- Thrive Earlier Detection raised $257M with Casdin Capital and Section 32 co-leading the round to commercialize their early-detection liquid biopsy product that was originally invented at Johns Hopkins.
- TrekIT Health raised $1M led by Tech Council Ventures to build an EHR product. Not clear how this is unique.
- Vesigen Therapeutics raised $28.5M co-led by Bayer and Morningside Ventures to develop RRDC1-mediated microvesicles (ARMMs) as drug delivery vehicles. One of the founders, Bob Millman, is a legend and is a major reason why Alnylam has such a headstart in RNAi therapeutics - https://www.fiercebiotech.com/biotech/bayer-helps-harvard-spinout-vesigen-to-28-5m-series-a
- Withings raised $60M from Gilde Healthcare, Idinvest Partners, and Bpifrance to commercialize their connected devices that measures things like blood pressure, heart rate, and weight.
Exits
Number of exits: 3 & Total exit value: Over $3B
- Acutus Medical filed to raise $125M in an IPO to commercialize and develop their medical devices for arrhythmia - https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1522860/000119312520203296/d827177ds1a.htm
- Harmony Biosciences filed for an $100M IPO to develop new medicines for narcolepsy and other CNS disorders - https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1802665/000119312520199773/d755703ds1.htm
- Oak Street Health filed to raise a $250M IPO, on $540M in 2019 revenue, to scale their primary care business focused on Medicare patients in the Midwest - https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1564406/000119312520201726/d918845ds1a.htm
Deals
Number of deals: 4 & Total deal value: ~$7B
- AstraZeneca expanded their ADC deal with Daiichi Sankyo by up to $6B focused on oncology - https://bioworld.com/articles/496246-astrazeneca-expands-adc-deal-with-daiichi-by-up-to-6b
- F-star Therapeutics went public through a reverse merger with Spring Bank Pharmaceuticals to bring their unique immuno-oncology platform onto the market - https://www.bioworld.com/articles/496360-uk-immuno-oncology-player-f-star-gains-nasdaq-listing-in-merger-with-spring-bank?v=preview
- Roche licensed an anti-tau drug (UCB-0107) from UCB for AlAlzheimer's therapy UCB-0107 for $120M upfront with ~$2B in milestones - https://www.bioworld.com/articles/496337-roche-seeks-potential-alzheimers-treatment-in-ucb-anti-tau-drug-with-2b-licensing-deal
- Novartis announced a partnership with Sangamo Therapeutics to gain access to the latter’s zinc finger nuclease gene editing platform to focus on autism spectrum disorder and other neurodevelopmental disorders - https://www.bioworld.com/articles/496367-sangamo-snags-novartis-with-a-795m-neurodevelopmental-deal?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 -