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@axialvc.com
Life Sciences Financings and Commentary #43 - January 16, 2021 - January 22, 2021
Financings
Number of deals: 10 & Total capital invested: $509.8M
- Aledade raised $100M led by Meritech Capital to scale their primary care business of building and leading accountable care organizations (ACO).
- ConsejoSano raised $17M led by Magnetic Venture to build a patient engagement platform for Medicare and Medicaid plans.
- Conversa Health raised $20M co-led by Builders VC and Northwell Ventures to scale their virtual care triage product.
- K Health raised $132M from GGV Capital, Kaiser Permanente, among others to scale their virtual primary and urgent care platform.
- Neurent Medical raised $25M with Atlantic Bridge and LSP co-leading the round to develop a medical device to treat chronic inflammatory sino-nasal diseases.
- Plexium raised $35M co-led by Lux Capital and Pivotal BioVentures to bring their molecular glue platform closer to the clinic.
- Slate Bio raised $1.8M led by Epidarex Capital to develop a bifunctional IL-2 fusion cytokine that augments Regulatory T cells (Tregs) and tissue resident Tregs for autoimmune and inflammatory disease.
- Vera Therapeutics raised $80M led by Abingworth to develop Atacicept, an asset licensed from Merck KGaA, for IgA Nephropathy. The drug candidate is a recombinant fusion protein that contains the soluble TACI receptor that binds to the cytokines BLyS and APRIL. These cytokines are members of the tumor necrosis factor family that promote B-cell survival and autoantibody production associated autoimmunity.
- Verve Therapeutics raised $94M co-led by Wellington and Casdin Capital to develop gene editing medicines for cardiovascular disease. The company is focused on mimicking natural gene variants that permanently lower LDL cholesterol and triglyceride levels with the first indications in heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia.
- XP Health raised $5M led by Valor Capital Group to build a software-enabled vision benefits product. .
Exits
Number of exits: 9 & Total exit value: Over $7B
- Adagene filed for a $125M IPO to grow their pipeline of cancer immuno-therapies focused in China - https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1818838/000104746921000130/a2242683zf-1.htm
- Bioventus filed for an IPO of $100M to scale their products treating musculoskeletal diseases with a focus on their Exogen product that uses ultrasound treatment for fracture healing - https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1665988/000119312521011667/d58473ds1.htm
- Decipher Biosciences filed for a $100M IPO to scale their genetic testing business focus on prostate and bladder cancer - https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1668069/000119312521010701/d46697ds1.htm
- Lucira Health filed for a $115M IPO to commercialize their at-home COVID-19 test. Congrats John - https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1652724/000119312521010174/d19221ds1.htm
- LumiraDx filed for a $100M public offering to grow their COVID-19 antigen testing business - https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1685428/000119312521010218/d920968df1.htm
- NexImmune filed an S-1 for a $86M IPO to develop their nanoparticle-based immunotherapy pipeline focused on acute myeloid leukemia, and multiple myelom - https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1538210/000119312521011521/d216127ds1.htm
- Preventice Solutions was acquired by Boston Scientific for up to $1.25B ($925M in cash) to bring on board the former’s mobile cardiac products from cardiac event monitors to mobile cardiac telemetry services - https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/boston-scientific-announces-agreement-to-acquire-preventice-solutions-inc-301212218.html
- Signify Health filed for a $100M IPO to grow their in-home care and care management services business - https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1828182/000119312521011608/d12124ds1.htm
- Vor Biopharma filed for a $150M IPO to bring their engineered HSC drug candidate through the clinic for AML - https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1817229/000119312521010219/d942530ds1.htm
Deals
Number of deals: 3 & Total deal value: Over $1.8B
- Merus announced a deal worth up to $1.68M ($40M in cash and $20 in an equity investment) with Loxo Oncology (Eli Lilly) to develop up to three CD3-directed bispecific T-cell engager antibodies. Each program has up to $540 million attached in development and commercialization milestones. Merus would also receive tiered royalties on any product sales, ranging, in percentage terms, from mid-single-digits to low-double-digits - https://www.biospace.com/article/lilly-s-loxo-oncology-stakes-up-to-1-billion-in-merus-t-cell-antibody-cancer-candidates/
- Mina Therapeutics executed a deal with Servier to use the former’s small activating RNA (saRNA) technology for central nervous system drug development in a deal worth up to €220M - https://www.fiercebiotech.com/biotech/servier-mina-ally-to-upregulate-neurological-disorder-proteins-using-small-activating-rnas
- Serotiny announced a deal with Twist Bioscience to use the former’s CAR-T design platform in combination with Twist’s DNA synthesis technology to discover new CAR-T therapies. Congrats Colin and Justin - https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210119005250/en/Twist-Bioscience-Signs-Two-Biopharma-Technology-Agreements-to-Enable-Novel-Therapeutics-Discovery
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 -