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Life Sciences Financings and Commentary #33 - November 7, 2020 - November 13, 2020
Financings
Number of deals: 24 & Total capital invested: ~$1.25B
- Adagio Therapeutics raised $80M led by GV to develop therapeutic antibodies (sourced from Adimab) for COVID-19.
- Ambrx raised $200M from Fidelity, Blackrock, Invus, among others to develop protein therapeutics, ADCs and bispecifics, in oncology.
- Apollomics raised $124.2M led by Ping An Capital to develop new medicines in oncology focused on China - https://www.dealstreetasia.com/stories/apollomics-ping-an-214482/
- Bridge Medicines raised $10M from Takeda, Bay City Capital, and Deerfield to scale their drug discovery services business.
- Buoy Health raised $37.5M with Cigna Ventures and Humana co-leading the round to build their AI-product to help patients self-diagnose.
- Carbon Health raised $100M led by Dragoneer Investment Group to scale their primary care model particularly focused on the COVID-19 response.
- Catalym raised $59M from Novartis Venture Fund among others to develop its growth differentiation factor 15 (GDF-15) inhibitor for immunotherapy in oncology - https://www.bioworld.com/articles/500028-catalym-closes-59m-series-b-round-for-gdf-15-inhibitor?v=preview
- Congenica raised $50M with Tencent and Legal & General co-leading the round to build and scale their genomic analysis software to make NGS-diagnostics rapid (<5 minutes).
- Decibel Therapeutics raised $82.2M led by OrbiMed to develop their pipeline of medicines for hearing loss disorders. Congrats Steve.
- Dimension Inx raised $3.2M led by KdT ventures to develop their bioprinting platform for medical implants and tissue repair products.
- Eko raised $65M co-led by Highland Capital Partners and Questa Capital to scale their AI-driven stethoscope. Congrats Vas.
- Hocer Medical raised $15.16M led by Hillhouse Capital to develop ultrasonic surgical instruments focused on China.
- Inipharm raised $35M from 5AM Ventures and Wu Capital to develop new medicines for severe liver diseases - https://www.bioworld.com/articles/500088-inipharm-to-use-its-35m-series-a-for-liver-related-therapies?v=preview
- Kate Farms raised $51M led by Goldman Sachs to scale their plant-based formula product lines.
- Metagenomi raised $65M co-led by Leaps by Bayer and Humboldt Fund to scale its metagenomic platform to discover gene editing proteins to develop new medicines in oncology, rare diseases, cell therapies, and beyond - https://www.fiercebiotech.com/biotech/bayer-powers-gene-editing-startup-metagenomi-to-65m-a-round
- Prometheus Biosciences raised $130M co-led by RTW Investments and Eventide Asset Management to develop new medicines for GI diseases.
- PTM Biolabs raised $80M led by IDG Capital Partners to scale their proteomics product offering for antibody development.
- R-Zero raised $15M led by DBL Partners to commercialize their sanitizing UV device.
- Solv Health raised $27M led by aCrew Capital to expand their national network of convenient healthcare providers. Solv develops and operates an online platform that lets users find and book same-day doctor's appointments.
- Spora Health raised $1.2M led by Human Ventures to build a software-enabled primary care service for people of color - https://techcrunch.com/2020/11/09/spora-health-launches-primary-care-network-for-black-people-and-people-of-color/
- Springtide Child Development raised $18.1M co-led by Deerfield and Optum Ventures to scale their child development services. Springtide offers applied behavior analysis therapy for autism, speech therapy, occupational therapy, physical therapy, language acquisition, social skills, school readiness, and functional living skill development services.
- Synendo Therapeutics raised $21.8M from Sunstone Life Science Ventures among others to develop oral drugs targeting the endogenous endocannabinoid system for CNS disorders like PTSD - https://www.bioworld.com/articles/500125-synendos-raises-218-million-targets-cns-conditions-via-endocannabinoid-system?v=preview
- X-COR Therapeutics raised $2.6M led by CMC Consulting Boston to move their extracorporeal carbon dioxide removal device toward clinical trials. X-COR Therapeutics develops CO2 removal devices that allow physicians to remove excess CO2 from patients who are in symptomatic lung failure.
- Zero Egg raised $5M led by Powerplant Ventures to make a plant-based egg alternative.
Exits
Number of exits: 3 & Total exit value: Over $6B
- Cano Health is going public through a merger with a SPAC, Jaws Acquisition Corporation, to scale their healthcare business focused on the elderly and valuing the company at ~$4.4B - https://uk.reuters.com/article/us-cano-health-m-a-jaws-acquisition/cano-health-to-list-via-44-billion-merger-with-barry-sternlicht-backed-spac-idUKKBN27S1VQ
- Remegen raised $514.5M in a public offering on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange to scale their biologics drug development business in China - https://www.bioworld.com/articles/499957-remegen-launches-biggest-pre-revenue-biotech-ipo-in-hong-kong-this-year?v=preview
- Silverback Therapeutics filed for a $100M IPO to develop their pipeline of medicines for solid tumors using their ImmunoTAC technology (an antibody fused to a TLR agonist) - https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1671858/000119312520290236/d67046ds1.htm
Deals
Number of deals: 4 & Total deal value: ~$2.5B
- Affimed announced a deal with Roivant to license their tetravalent bispecific antibody-based innate cell engager (ICE) platform for $40M in an upfront payments and $20M of Roivant stock along with $2B in development, regulatory and commercial milestones. Affimed will also receive tiered royalties on product sales, and it has also retained a co-promotion option to participate in future commercialization activities - https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2020/11/09/2123142/0/en/Affimed-and-Roivant-Sciences-Announce-Licensing-and-Strategic-Collaboration-Agreement-to-Develop-and-Commercialize-Novel-Innate-Cell-Engagers-ICE-for-Multiple-Cancer-Targets.html
- Angion announced a deal with Vifor Pharma Group for $60M, with $30M upfront and $30M in equity investment, to secure rights to Angion’s hepatocyte growth factor mimetic, ANG-3777, in all nephrology indications - https://www.viforpharma.com/en/media/press-releases/2020/vifor-pharma-and-angion-sign-license-agreement-for-ang-3777-in-nephrology-indications
- Fochon Pharmaceuticals out-licensed FCN-338, a BCL-2 inhibitor, to Eli Lilly and Co. for an upfront payment of $40M along with milestones and royalties worth up to $400M - https://www.bioworld.com/articles/500020-fosun-out-licenses-bcl-2-inhibitor-to-eli-lilly-in-440m-deal?v=preview
- Galmed Pharmaceuticals announced a research and development collaboration agreement with Mybiotics Pharma to identify and optimize the selected microbiome repertoire associated with the response to Aramchol (arachidyl amido cholanoic acid), Galmed’s fatty acid bile acid conjugate treating nonalcoholic steatohepatitis - https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/galmed-and-mybiotics-to-collaborate-in-development-of-bespoke-microbiome-signature-for-aramchol-301168542.html
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 -