Venture Capital Deals And Updates At A Glance
Company	Update
ITM Isotope Technologies Munich SE; Munich	The radiopharmaceutical developer said on 22 March that the €25m ($27.5m) equity investment from Grand Pharma announced in February increased to a total of €58m ($63.8m) with €33m ($36.3m) in additional investment by the Indigenous Critical Infrastructure Fund Canada and an equity fund managed by Portland Investment Council Inc. (Also see "Finance Watch: Kallyope Leads Latest Group Of VC Mega-Rounds With $236m Raise" - Scrip, 17 February, 2022.) The proceeds will fund completion of two ongoing Phase III clinical trials for lead product candidate ITM-11 in the treatment of gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors and related commercialization efforts as well as development of additional radiopharmaceutical candidates and expansion of radioisotope supply capabilities.
Spotlight Therapeutics, Inc.; San Francisco	After completing a $30m series A round in November 2020, Spotlight said on 22 March that it raised a $36.5m series B round to fund its development of cell-targeted in vivo CRISPR gene-editing biologics. (Also see "Finance Watch: Biopharma VC Explosion Extends To Tools, Services" - Scrip, 2 December, 2020.) The company is developing its Targeted Active Gene Editors (TAGE) therapeutics as one-time treatments and will use its fresh capital to advance its lead immuno-oncology program to the clinic and progress additional IO, ophthalmic and hemoglobinopathy programs.
Ocelot Bio Inc.; San Diego	Ocelot revealed on 23 March that it closed a $36m series A round and appointed Katherine Vega Stultz, who most recently was chief operating officer at Graphite Bio, Inc., as its CEO. The company is developing treatments for end-stage liver disease and plans to initiate a Phase II clinical trial during the first half of 2022 for OCE-205, a peptide therapeutic with a mechanism of action designed to selectively targets complications of portal hypertension, in the treatment of hepatorenal syndrome with acute kidney injury.
Geneos Therapeutics, Inc.; Plymouth Meeting, PA	The developer of tumor neoantigen-targeted personalized immunotherapies disclosed a $17m series A2 round on 24 March. The funding will be used to expand the ongoing Phase Ib/IIa clinical trial of the cancer vaccine GNOS-PV02, a tumor-specific DNA plasmid-based product designed and manufactured for each patient based on their own tumor mutations. The trial, which is testing the vaccine in combination with the IL-12 cytokine INO-9012 and Merck & Co., Inc.’s PD-1 inhibitor Keytruda (pembrolizumab), will be expanded from 24 to 36 patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma.
Spine BioPharma Inc.; New York	Spine said on 28 March that it completed a $13m series B round to support clinical development of SB-01, a peptide that binds to TGF-beta 1 that it licensed from Yuhan Corporation in 2018, for the treatment of degenerative disc disease (DDD). (Also see "Yuhan Licenses Out Degenerative Disc Therapy To Spine Despite Earlier Trial Failure" - Scrip, 1 August, 2018.) The company aims to provide a non-opioid, non-surgical treatment for chronic low back pain caused by DDD.
Qu Biologics Inc.; Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada	Qu said on 21 March that it closed on $12m in equity financing to expand its team, initiate three additional Phase II clinical trials and accelerate its immunomodulation platform. The company is developing site specific immunomodulators that are designed to restore immune function through innate immune training and tissue-specific targeting of activated immune cells. Qu has completed four placebo-controlled Phase II trials in lung cancer, Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis with a fifth under way in colon cancer. Phase II studies are planned in innate immunity in the elderly, colon cancer, pancreatic cancer and lung cancer.
Freya Pharma Solutions; Amsterdam	Freya announced on 29 March that it raised $8.5m from new and existing investors to conduct a Phase III clinical trial for Lybrido in the treatment of 516 patients in Europe with female sexual interest/arousal disorder (FSIAD). Lybrido is a tablet formulation of the phosphodiesterase 5 inhibitor sildenafil coated with testosterone for on-demand, sublingual administration. Freya has tested Lybrido for FSIAD and Lybridos for dysfunctional over-activation of sexual inhibition in 20 Phase I, IIa and IIb trials in the US; the company acquired the assets from Emotional Brain BV in December. (Also see "FDA Adds New Co-Primary Endpoint For Female Sexual Desire Drugs" - Pink Sheet, 27 October, 2016.)
Neurana Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; San Diego	The company revealed on 22 March that its sole drug candidate did not meet the primary or secondary endpoints in the 1,004-patient Phase III RESUME-1 clinical trial, testing tolperisone in the relief of muscle spasms associated with acute, painful musculoskeletal conditions. Neurana said it has reduced spending and cut jobs and begun a process to access strategic alternatives; if none are found it will initiate a plan of dissolution. The company raised a $60m series A round in 2018 to fund development in North America for tolperisone, a skeletal muscle relaxant approved in a different formulation outside of the US for neuromuscular conditions. (Also see "Finance Watch: Lots Of Money, Big And Small, Flowing Into Drug Development" - Scrip, 10 May, 2018.)

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