Venture Capital Deals At A Glance
Company	Financing
Arkuda Therapeutics; Watertown, MA	Cormorant Asset Management and Pivotal bioVenture Partners co-led a $64m series B round announced on 10 February by Arkuda, which is focused on the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases based on its insights at the intersection of lysosomal and microglial biology. The company will advance its lead progranulin enhancer program in the treatment of GRN-related frontotemporal dementia (FTD-GRN) toward IND-enabling studies and expand its pipeline of programs targeting lysosomal dysfunction.
Curevo Vaccine; Seattle	Curevo said on 10 February that it closed a $60m series A round, which will fund a 678-patient Phase IIb head-to-head clinical trial for its shingles vaccine CRV-101 versus GlaxoSmithKline plc’s blockbuster vaccine Shingrix. CRV-101 is an adjuvanted sub-unit varicella vaccine that the company expects to have better tolerability and immunogenicity because it uses a smaller amount of adjuvant.
Indapta Therapeutics; San Francisco	Indapta revealed a $50m series A round on 10 February to fund its development of natural killer (NK) cell therapies for blood cancers and solid tumors. The company also announced its new CEO – Mark Frohlich, who was executive vice president of portfolio strategy at Juno Therapeutics Inc. when the chimeric antigen receptor T-cell (CAR-T) therapy pioneer was acquired by Celgene Corporation for $9bn in 2018. (Also see "Celgene Seeks CAR-T Leadership, Hematology Diversification With Juno Buy" - Scrip, 23 January, 2018.) The Juno-developed CAR-T therapy Breyanzi was approved last year. (Also see "Breyanzi Is Third To Market, But BMS’s First CAR-T Therapy Priced Above Competitors" - Scrip, 8 February, 2021.) Frohlich’s immunotherapy development experience also includes Provenge; he was chief medical officer at Dendreon Corporation when the prostate cancer drug was approved in the US in 2010. (Also see "Dendreon's Provenge becomes first therapeutic cancer vaccine to be approved in US" - Scrip, 30 April, 2010.) Indapta will use its series A proceeds to build its team and advance its initial allogeneic NK cell therapies toward IND filings and clinical trials; its lead programs are focused on multiple myeloma and lymphoma.
Congruence Therapeutics, Inc.; Montreal, Canada	Congruence disclosed a $50m series A round on 8 February to fund its use of computational and experimental drug discovery tools to design novel small molecules for diseases of protein misfolding. Company founder Clarissa Desjardins previously was founder and CEO of Clementia Pharmaceuticals, Inc., which Ipsen SA acquired for $1.3bn in 2019. (Also see "Ipsen Commercial Chief: Buying Clementia Will Bolster Rare Disease Franchise " - Scrip, 25 February, 2019.) The Clementia-developed drug Sohonos (palovarotene) for fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva has run into safety concerns that have delayed FDA approval, but Ipsen said on 11 February that it plans to refile the drug in the US during the first half of this year. (Also see "Ipsen To Exit Consumer Health And Focus On Specialty Pharma" - Scrip, 11 February, 2022.)
1859, Inc.; San Diego	The company launched on 7 February with $40m in series A funding to scale up its platform that combines artificial intelligence and empirical pico-scale screening data for the discovery of novel small molecules for emerging disease targets. 1859 also will advance preclinical discovery programs in addition to its existing 16 biopharma and academic partnerships.
Ucello Therapeutics; San Diego and Chengdu, China	The developer of allogeneic CAR-T therapies for solid tumors and hematologic malignancies announced a $25m series A round on 10 February. Ucello will use the proceeds to develop its CBT-X20 technology platform, advance lead asset A19 through IND filings in the US and China, and to build GMP-ready manufacturing facilities.
Vensica Therapeutics; Tel Aviv	The Israeli firm said on 7 February that it closed a $19m funding round that includes up to $3m from Merz GmbH & Co. KGaA. Vensica licensed Merz’s neurotoxin Xeomin (incobotulinumtoxinA) for the development of a needle-free treatment for urological disorders, including overactive bladder, neurogenic bladder and interstitial cystitis. The company’s needle-free technology may provide for more uniform delivery of Xeomin to the bladder wall. Vensica will use the series A cash to conduct Phase II trials in the US and Europe, and to expand the company’s workforce in Israel working on its delivery device.
Bugworks Research Inc.; Bangalore, India, Saratoga, CA and Adelaide, Australia	Bugworks raised $18m in a series B1 round to fund its ongoing Phase I trial of BWC0977, anovel broad spectrum anti-bacterial agentavailable in both I.V. and oral forms, and development of its preclinical adenosine immuno-oncology asset. The company raised $9m in series A funding in 2018 and received a commitment for up to $6.2m in CARB-X funding in 2017. (Also see "Finance Watch: Vaccinex, Aridis Launch August's First US IPOs As The Summer Simmer Slows" - Scrip, 15 August, 2018.)
Altesa Biosciences, Inc.; Atlanta	The start-up launched on 10 February with $4m in seed funding to develop novel antiviral drugs against common respiratory viruses, such as rhinovirus and parainfluenza, and vector-born global viral threats like Dengue fever, yellow fever, Zika and Powassan. Altesa is collaborating with and partially owned by Emory University’s Drug Innovation Ventures at Emory (DRIVE). The company, which has licensed up to six molecules against RNA viruses from DRIVE, also named Brett Giroir as its CEO. Giroir is a former US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) assistant secretary for health, acting FDA commissioner, US representative to the World Health Organization (WHO) and admiral in the US Public Health Service Commissioned Corps. (Also see " Acting Commissioner Giroir Emphasizes 'Transitional' Period, Suggesting Time At US FDA Will Be Short" - Pink Sheet, 15 November, 2019.) Altesa also licensed vapendavir from Vaxart, Inc. last year, which it plans to take into Phase II for the prevention of acute exacerbations of chronic respiratory diseases caused by rhinoviruses, including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. (Also see "Deal Watch: AstraZeneca Out-Licenses Pneumonia Candidate, Obtains STING Inhibitors" - Scrip, 20 July, 2021.)

Finance Watch: A Dozen Deals Add Up To $672m In Biopharma Venture Capital

Three Mega-Rounds Account For Half Of Total

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