Company	Investors	Use Of Proceeds
OncoImmune, Inc.; Rockville, MD	HM Capital and an unnamed blue-chip investor co-led a $56m series B round announced on 10 September with participation from existing investors 3E Bioventures Capital and Kaitai Capital and additional new investors GBA Fund and GF Xinde. OncoImmune previously raised a $15m series A round in 2017. (Also see "VC Roundup: 2016 US Investment Ends On A Down Note, But Biopharma Has Second-Best Year" - Scrip, 31 January, 2017.)	The proceeds will fund late-stage clinical trials for OncoImmune’s lead programs and to expand the company’s pipeline of novel immunotherapies for cancer, inflammation and autoimmune diseases. Two Phase III clinical trials are under way for CD24Fc, which regulates host inflammatory responses to tissue injuries, in the treatment of severe COVID-19 patients and to prevent acute graft-versus-host disease in leukemia patients after an allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplant. The COVID-19 trial is nearing its enrollment goal of more than 270 patients and top-line results are expected soon.
Generate Biomedicines; Cambridge, MA	Flagship Pioneering has committed more than $50m in funding to its latest in-house creation, which until 10 September had been operating in stealth mode for the past three years.	Generate Biomedicines is using its machine learning-based Generative Biology platform to rapidly invent new therapies across modalities, including antibodies, peptides, enzymes, cytokines and protein therapeutics. The company identified multiple therapeutic candidates against SARS-CoV-2 within 17 days, including antibodies and peptides, which are being developed in partnership with the Coronavirus Immunotherapy Consortium (CoVIC) – an initiative led by the La Jolla Institute for Immunology with support from the COVID-19 Therapeutics Accelerator; the accelerator was launched by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Wellcome Trust and Mastercard in March. (Also see "Coronavirus Update: More Companies Join Therapeutics Accelerator, FDA Delays AdCom For First NASH Drug" - Scrip, 27 March, 2020.)
Casma Therapeutics Inc.; Cambridge, MA	The company said on 10 September that it completed a $50m series B financing led by The Column Group. New investors Eventide Asset Management LLC and Schroder Adveq. Other undisclosed institutional investors also participated along with existing investor Third Rock Ventures, which funded Casma’s $58.5m series A round in 2018. (Also see "Finance Watch: Lots Of Money, Big And Small, Flowing Into Drug Development" - Scrip, 10 May, 2018.)	Casma is using multiple approaches to intervene at strategic points in the autophagy-lysosome system within cells to improve membrane repair and clear out unwanted proteins, aggregates, organelles and pathogens. The goal is to stop or reverse the progression of lysosomal storage disorders, muscle disorders, cancer, inflammatory diseases and neurodegeneration. The series B funding will allow the company further the development of its Autophagy Degrader Platform (ADP) and its TRPML1 agonist for muscular dystrophy (TRPML1 regulates plasma membrane repair in muscle cells).
Inversago Pharma Inc.; Montreal	The company announced a $35m series B round on 8 September led by Forbion with co-investment from the Fonds de solidarité FTQ and participation from existing investors Genesys, JDRF T1D Fund, Amorchem, Anges Québec Capital, adMare BioInnovations and angels. Inversago closed a $7m series A round in 2018. (Also see "Finance Watch: A Plethora Of Big Rounds, Led By Gossamer's $230m Series B" - Scrip, 31 July, 2018.)	Inversago will use its new cash to fund development of its cannabinoid-1 (CB1) receptor inverse agonist INV-101 through proof of concept and to advance other compounds. The company’s CB1 inhibitors are peripherally acting to avoid CNS liabilities observed previously in this drug class. CB1 inhibition has shown utility in metabolic and fibrotic diseases, such as Prader-Willi syndrome, non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), type 1 diabetes and diabetic nephropathy.
Orasis Pharmaceuticals; Herzliya, Israel	A $30m series C round was announced on 10 September with new funder Bluestem Capital and returning backer Visionary Ventures as the co-lead investors. Other prior investors also participated, including Sequoia Capital, SBI (Japan) Innovation Ventures, Maverick Ventures Israel and LifeSci Venture Partners.	Orasis is developing treatments for presbyopia symptoms and plans to use the new venture cash to advance its lead eye drop candidate through completion of Phase III clinical trials. The ophthalmic pharma company aims to give people with presbyopia – the loss of ability to focus on near objects, which worsens after the age of 40 – more control and more comfort related to their vision.
MiNA Therapeutics; London	The Israeli VC fund aMoon led a £23m ($30m) series A round announced on 10 September.	MiNA is developing small activating RNA (saRNA) therapeutics. Lead candidate MTL-CEBPA is in clinical development for liver cancer. (Also see "Israel VC Backs MiNA's Novel SaRNAs In Cancer, And Add-On Therapy Areas" - Scrip, 10 September, 2020.)
Cycle Pharmaceuticals Ltd.; Cambridge, UK	Cycle said on 7 September that it entered into a $25m credit facility with Deutsche Bank.	The company develops treatments for rare diseases that improve upon existing therapies and plans to use the funding to build on the success of its drug Nityr (nitisinone), which is approved in the US and EU for the metabolic disease hereditary tyrosinemia type 1. (Also see "FDA's NDA And BLA Approvals: Nityr, Benlysta" - Pink Sheet, 28 July, 2017.) The credit facility also will provide funding for the company’s subsidiary Varsity Pharmaceuticals, which is developing cancer drugs that overcome resistance to existing therapies.

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