Venture Capital Deals At A Glance
Company	Financing
Vanqua Bio; Chicago	The company launched on 14 September with $85m from a series B round led by Omega Funds with participation from series A backer OrbiMed and several new investors. Vanqua’s technology platform is based on research from the lab of Dmitri Krainc at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine and leverages novel research tools and in vitro modeling of diseases based on patient-derived neuronal cells to translate genetic drivers of disease into therapies. The company’s lead program is focused on small molecule activators of glucocerebrosidase (GCase) for conditions such as Gaucher disease, Parkinson’s disease and Lewy body dementia. Other programs target the innate immune system with small molecule and antisense oligonucleotides for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and Alzheimer’s disease.
Evommune, Inc.; Los Altos, CA	A global syndicate that included Andrea Partners and LSP plus existing investor Pivotal bioVenture Partners backed an $83m series A round that Evommune announced on 9 September. The company is developing treatments for immune-mediated and chronic inflammatory disease and will advance its four lead programs into the clinic. Evommune’s founders and three of its compounds come from Dermira Inc., now a Lilly subsidiary: IRAK4/TrkA, a small molecule that broadly inhibits innate inflammation; RORγt, a small molecule addressing Th17-mediated inflammation; and MRGPRX2, a small molecule for chronic pruritus. The fourth compound is a PKC theta inhibitor for immune-mediated inflammatory diseases under a partnership with Axcelead Drug Discovery Partners Inc.
Emulate, Inc.; Boston	The company, which provides organ-on-a-chip technology for in vitro research and preclinical drug development, has raised $225m to date, including an $82m series E round announced on 7 September. Emulate’s technology is an alternative to animal testing used by academic and government researchers as well as biopharma firms. The company will use its financing to develop new organ-chip models in immunology, neuro-inflammation, tumor modeling and more, and is expanding in the Asia-Pacific region with two new distributors.
Rome Therapeutics, Inc.; Cambridge, MA	Rome launched in April of last year with $50m in series A funding and announced a $77m series B round on 14 September led by new investor Section 32. (Also see "Finance Watch: Erasca Raises $200m As VC Mega-Rounds Continue" - Scrip, 1 May, 2020.) The company is harnessing the repeatome – the 60% of the human genome that consists of repetitive sequences of nucleic acids – to discover novel cancer and autoimmune disease drugs. Rome will use the new funding to continue building an R&D pipeline and take its first programs into the clinic.
TreeFrog Therapeutics; Bordeaux, France	TreeFrog said on 13 September that it closed a $75m (€64m) series B round to fund the expansion of its biomimetic C-Stem technology platform for growing and differentiating induced pluripotent stem cells into ready-to-transplant microtissues. The company also will advance candidates toward the clinic with plans to begin dosing Parkinson’s disease patients with its lead candidate in 2024. Bpifrance Large Venture, part of the French Public Investment Bank, led the series B round with participation from Leonard Green & Partners LP, Bristol Myers Squibb and XAnge.
ADARx Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; San Diego	The developer of RNA-targeting therapeutics said on 8 September that it closed a $75m series B round co-led by SR One Capital Management and OrbiMed Advisors. ADARx will use the proceeds to advance its proprietary RNA platform technologies in the areas of base editing, inhibition, degradation and delivery, and to initiate a Phase I clinical trial for its lead oligonucleotide drug candidate. The company’s research spans genetic, cardiometabolic, CNS and other diseases.
Lycia Therapeutics, Inc.; South San Francisco	After receiving $35m up front under a deal with Lilly in August, Lycia said on 9 September that it closed a $70m series B round. Lilly, which committed up to $1.6bn in milestone fees for the development of novel extracellular protein degraders, participated in Lycia’s Redmile Group-led series B round. (Also see "Deal Watch: Lilly Teams Up With Lycia In Protein Degradation" - Scrip, 6 September, 2021.) The company launched in June of last year with a $50m series A round and will use its fresh capital to advance a pipeline of lysosomal targeting chimera (LYTAC) degraders. (Also see "Finance Watch: Four Offerings In One Week As Biopharma Keeps Its IPO Market Lead" - Scrip, 15 June, 2020.)
Alebund Pharmaceuticals; Shanghai	Alebund followed its $60m series B round in May with a $54.5m series B+ round announced on 13 September. (Also see "Finance Watch: Four Biotech VC Funds Raise $1.7bn Combined" - Scrip, 16 May, 2021.) The company is developing treatments for renal diseases and related chronic conditions, including a Phase II candidate for hyperphosphatemia that is expected to move into Phase III next year.
Walking Fish Therapeutics; South San Francisco	Walking Fish launched on 13 September with $50m in series A funding. The company is developing B cell therapeutics for cancer, rare diseases, regenerative medicine, autoimmune disorders and recombinant antibody production. (Also see "Five Prime Founder Rusty Williams Returns With Walking Fish Therapeutics" - Scrip, 14 September, 2021.)
iECURE; Philadelphia	The company revealed on 9 September that it closed a $50m series A round led by Versant Ventures and OrbiMed Advisors to advance a pipeline of up to 13 in vivo gene editing therapies developed by James Wilson of the University of Pennsylvania Gene Therapy Program. iECURE’s initial development programs are designed to insert mutation-agnostic healthy copies of disease-causing genes into the patient’s genome with an initial focus on liver diseases. The endonuclease-based gene-editing technology is delivered by adeno-associated virus (AAV) vectors, but iECURE’s programs eventually may incorporate other delivery technologies.
Cytovia Therapeutics, Inc. and CytoLynx Therapeutics; Aventura, FL and Shanghai	Cytovia is developing allogeneic gene-edited natural killer cells from induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), known as iNK cell therapies, as well as chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-iNK cells and NK cell engager multifunctional antibodies. The company and CytoLynx – a joint venture that Cytovia recently formed in partnership with TF Capital to develop its NK cell therapies in greater China – announced on 13 September that they raised $45m to fund investigational new drug (IND) application-enabling studies and begin clinical development of their pipeline. CytoLynx has a license to Cytovia’s technology platforms and may pay up to $400m in upfront, development and milestone fees based on programs developed in China.
Replicate Bioscience, Inc.; New York and San Diego	Replicate launched on 8 September with $40m in series A venture capital from ATP. The company aims to develop self-replicating RNA (srRNA) therapeutics that can prevent drug resistance in cancer and treat autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. The srRNA medicines are designed for significantly lower dosing than other RNA technologies with increased duration of therapeutic effect as the treatments either activate or evade the immune system.
Calypso Biotech BV; Amsterdam	The developer of IL-15 targeting therapies said on 9 September that it dosed the first celiac disease patients in a Phase I clinical trial of the IL-15 neutralizing antibody CALY-002 and noted that its series A round has increased to €28m ($33.1m) with €8m from Fountain HealthCare Partners. The funding will support further development of CALY-002 in gastroenterology indications.
EnteroBiotix, Ltd.; Glasgow, Scotland	The company, which is developing microbial therapeutics that enhance the gut microbiome, said on 7 September that it closed a $21.5m (£15.5m) series A round led by Thairm Bio. (Also see "Investors Back Microbial Specialist EnteroBiotix’s Series A Financing" - Scrip, 7 September, 2021.)
Windgap Medical, Inc.; Watertown, MA	Windgap, which is developing novel drug delivery technologies, said on 7 September that it closed a $17m series B-1 round led by Taiwania Capital. The company plans to add another $15m to the round within the next 90 days. Windgap will use the proceeds to commercialize its ANDI wet/dry autoinjector platform, which is designed as a more compact, stable and temperature-resilient option for various medicines, starting with an epinephrine product for anaphylaxis and a cyanide poisoning treatment. The latter is being developed under a National Institutes of Health CounterACT grant.
PRISM BioLab Inc.; Brussels, Belgium	Newton Biocapital said on 9 September that it invested €2m in PRISM’s €10m ($11.8m) funding round. The company is using it peptide mimetic technology to develop “PepMetics” for intractable diseases in the areas of cancer and fibrosis. PRISM has licensed one clinical-stage program in cancer and one in fibrosis to Japanese pharmaceutical companies. (Also see "PRISM refracts new funds to fibrosis trial" - Scrip, 13 June, 2013.)
HaemaLogiX Pty. Ltd.; Sydney, Australia	The company, which is developing immuno-oncology and other types of immune therapies for blood cancers, said on 8 September that it raised $10m. Lead drug candidate KappaMab, which targets the kappa myeloma antigen, is being tested in a Phase IIb multiple myeloma study with final results expected in late 2021. HaemaLogiX also is progressing a lambda myeloma antigen-targeting therapy and pursuing partnerships or buyers for this program.

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