BioPharma Updates, July 14th, 2025.
SciLeads’ BioPharma is updated daily, giving our clients the most current insights on biopharma organizations including Funding, Initial Public Offerings, Mergers & Acquisitions, Partnerships, and more. This week’s updates are below, with links to the organizations in the platform. If you don’t have BioPharma yet, start your free trial today.
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Funding
- CoRegen (TX, USA) raised $93.4M in private funding to advance CMC development, initiate a Phase 1/2 trial for its SRC3-KO Treg cell therapy in solid tumors, and expand its leadership team.
- NUCLIDIUM (Basel, Switzerland) raised $88.7M in Series B funding to advance clinical development of its copper-based radiopharmaceutical platform and expand global manufacturing for oncology diagnostics and therapeutics.
- Actithera (MA, USA) raised $75.5M in oversubscribed Series A funding to advance its covalent radiopharmaceutical pipeline, including a FAP-targeting radioligand therapy slated for clinical development across multiple indications.
- Neuros Medical (OH, USA) raised $56M in Series D funding to advance the U.S. commercial rollout and continued development of its Altius® Direct Electrical Nerve Stimulation System, a non-opioid treatment for chronic post-amputation pain.
- Emergent BioSolutions (MD, USA) received $51.9M in funding to deliver additional doses of CNJ-016 (VIGIV), a treatment for complications from smallpox vaccination, as part of the U.S. government’s ongoing biodefense preparedness strategy.
- Centivax (CA, USA) raised $45M in oversubscribed Series A funding to advance its universal flu vaccine into clinical trials and expand its pipeline of broad-spectrum vaccines and immunotherapies targeting infectious diseases and chronic conditions.
- Basilea Pharmaceutica (Allschwil, Switzerland) received a $39M BARDA grant to advance development of its antifungal candidates fosmanogepix and BAL2062, supporting ongoing and upcoming phase 3 and phase 2 clinical trials, respectively.
- Aqtual (CA, USA) raised $31M in Series B funding to advance its active chromatin cfDNA platform and support the commercialization of its lead product, a therapy response prediction test for rheumatoid arthritis.
- Comphya (Lausanne, Switzerland) raised $8.4M in oversubscribed Series A funding to advance clinical programs in the U.S. and Australia for its implantable neurostimulation device to treat erectile dysfunction unresponsive to medication.
- BioSapien (CA, USA) raised over $8M in extended pre-Series A funding to advance development and global rollout of its 3D-printed MediChip™ platform for localized cancer drug delivery.
- FluidAI (Kitchener, Canada) received a $2M Government of Canada grant to scale manufacturing and accelerate the global commercialization of its AI-powered postoperative care platform.
- Circular Genomics (CA, USA) received a $250K Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation grant to advance blood-based circRNA biomarkers for improving the diagnosis and progression prediction of Alzheimer’s disease.
- Biotia (NY, USA) received an undisclosed amount from an Orbital Launch Funding award from the Humans in Space Challenge to develop portable, sequencing-based infectious disease diagnostics for use in spaceflight and remote healthcare settings on Earth.
Emerging
- Terrana Biosciences (MA, USA) emerged from stealth with $50M in seed funding to launch its RNA-based crop health platform aimed at improving plant resilience, preventing disease, and enhancing productivity without genetic modification.
Post IPO Equity
- Soleno Therapeutics (CA, USA) raised $200M through a public offering of common stock to support the commercialization of VYKAT XR for Prader-Willi syndrome, expansion into the EU, continued R&D, and general corporate purposes.
- Cogent Biosciences (MA, USA) announced a proposed $150M underwritten public offering to support clinical development and commercial launch of bezuclastinib, a selective KIT D816V inhibitor for systemic mastocytosis and advanced GIST.
- Rhythm Pharmaceuticals Inc. (MA, USA) announced a proposed $150M public offering of common stock to support corporate growth and operations in rare neuroendocrine diseases.
- LakeShore Biopharma (Beijing, China) raised $15M through a private placement of shares and warrants to support its global efforts in developing next-generation vaccines and therapeutic biologics for infectious diseases and cancer.
- Calidi Biotherapeutics (CA, USA) raised $4.6M through the immediate exercise of outstanding warrants at a reduced price to support clinical and pre-clinical program advancement, operating expenses, and working capital.
- GenSight Biologics (Paris, France) raised ~$4.2M through a private placement of ordinary shares, pre-funded warrants, and investor warrants to support the development of its gene therapy candidate LUMEVOQ® and extend its cash runway through early October 2025.
- Cumulus Neuroscience (Belfast, United Kingdom) raised ~$4.1M in equity funding to support commercialization and team expansion for its FDA-cleared NeuLogiq platform, which delivers objective, multi-domain brain function data to advance neuroscience clinical trials and patient care.
- Hemostemix (Calgary, Canada) raised $2.7M through an oversubscribed non-brokered private placement to repay debt and support ongoing operations, including the marketing and sales of its cell therapy product VesCell™.
- AB Science (Paris, France) raised ~$2.1M through a private placement to support ongoing operations and clinical development of its oncology candidate AB8939.
- Amotio Health (Cwmbran, United Kingdom) raised ~$1.03M to advance its 3D-printed surgical device for safer cement removal in joint surgeries and support pre-clinical testing and regulatory approval.
- Restart Life Sciences (BC, Canada) raised ~$735K through a non-brokered private placement to support clinical studies and general working capital.
- Psyence Group (Toronto, Canada) raised ~$440K through a private placement of common shares to support general working capital, operational expenses, and strategic growth initiatives.
Post IPO debt
- Galectin Therapeutics (GA, USA) raised $10M through an unsecured line of credit from its chairman and largest shareholder to support ongoing development of belapectin for MASH cirrhosis and portal hypertension, extending its cash runway through June 2026.
Mergers and Acquisitions
- Merck (NJ, USA) to acquire Verona Pharma (London, United Kingdom) for $107 per ADS, approximately a total value of $10B, adding first-in-class COPD treatment Ohtuvayre® to its cardio-pulmonary portfolio.
- Concentra Biosciences (CA, USA) to acquire CARGO Therapeutics (CA, USA) for $4.38 per share in cash, approximately a total value of $106.2M plus a contingent value right for pipeline advancement.
- Quanterix (MA, USA) to acquire Akoya Biosciences (MA, USA) to create the first integrated platform capable of measuring biomarkers across the blood and tissue continuum.
- Companion Spine LLC (NY, USA) to acquire Paradigm Spine GmbH (Wurmlingen, Germany) for strategic expansion of its spine care portfolio.
- Companion Spine LLC (NY, USA) to acquire the Coflex and CoFix spine implants from Xtant Medical Holdings Inc. (MT, USA) for strategic expansion of its spine care portfolio.
- Novartis (Basel, Switzerland) to acquire Sironax‘s (Beijing, China) brain delivery platform under an exclusive option agreement to advance neurodegenerative disease treatments. Sironax retains rights to certain therapeutic assets.
Partnerships
- AbbVie (IL, USA) and Ichnos Glenmark Innovation (IGI) (NY, USA) announced a ~$1.9B exclusive licensing agreement for ISB 2001, a BEAT®-platform-based trispecific antibody targeting oncology and autoimmune diseases.
- JCR Pharmaceuticals (Ashiyao, Japan) and Alexion Pharmaceuticals (MA, USA) announced a license agreement worth up to ~$825M to enable use of JCR’s JUST-AAV vector platform in up to five gene therapy programs targeting various tissues for genomic medicines.
- Chugai Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (Tokyo, Japan) and Gero (Singapore) announced a ~$250M joint research and license agreement to develop novel antibody drug candidates targeting age-related diseases by combining Gero’s AI-driven human data platform with Chugai’s proprietary antibody engineering technologies.
- LENZ Therapeutics (CA, USA) and Laboratoires Théa (Clermont-Ferrand, France) announced a $70M+ exclusive license and commercialization agreement for LNZ100 in Canada, supporting near vision treatment access for presbyopia patients.
- Revolution Medicines (CA, USA) and Iambic Therapeutics (CA, USA) announced a ~$25M multi-year AI-driven research collaboration to apply its proprietary models like NeuralPLexer and PropANE to Revolution’s oncology drug discovery efforts.
- Inventiva Pharma (Daix, France) to receive $10M in milestones from Chia Tai Tianqing Pharmaceutical Group (China) as part of their licensing agreement for lanifibranor, supporting clinical development and regulatory progress for MASH and metabolic diseases in Greater China.
- Sagent Pharmaceuticals (IL, USA) and Qilu Pharmaceutical (Shandong, China) announced a strategic collaboration to commercialize a portfolio of complex injectable products for the U.S. market.
- Veeda Lifesciences (Ahmedabad, India) and Mango Sciences (MA, USA) announced a strategic partnership and investment agreement to integrate Querent™, an AI-powered platform, for advancing globally diverse oncology clinical trials and improving patient identification.
- Neuraxpharm (Barcelona, Spain) and Dizlin Pharmaceuticals AB (Stockholm, Sweden) announced a strategic global co-development and commercialization agreement for Infudopa SubC®, a wearable subcutaneous infusion therapy designed to improve motor fluctuation control in advanced Parkinson’s disease.
- Vanderbilt University Medical Center (TN, USA) and Parse Biosciences (WA, USA) announced a strategic collaboration to build the largest single-cell atlas of neutralizing plasmablasts using Parse’s Evercode platform to study immune responses to measles, mumps, and rubella vaccines.
- Cardio Diagnostics (IL, USA) and AGEPHA Pharma (Senec, Slovakia) announced a collaboration to supply LODOCO® for a clinical study using Cardio’s PrecisionCHD™ test to identify and monitor patients with inflammation-driven coronary heart disease through AI-powered, epigenetic diagnostics.
- Niagen Bioscience (CA, USA) and Haukeland University Hospital (Bergen, Norway) announced an exclusive global license agreement granting Niagen rights to develop and commercialize nicotinamide riboside (Niagen®) as a potential therapy for Parkinson’s disease, supported by data from the recently completed Phase 3 NOPARK trial.
- Biocytogen (MA, USA) and BeOne Medicines (MA, USA) announced a global licensing agreement for multiple fully human antibodies discovered using Biocytogen’s RenMice® platform.
- Sernova (London, Canada) and Eledon Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (CA, USA) announced a research collaboration to evaluate Eledon’s anti-CD40L antibody tegoprubart as an alternative immunosuppressive agent in Sernova’s Cell Pouch Bio-hybrid Organ Phase 1/2 trial for type 1 diabetes.
- Celularity (NJ, USA) and Fountain Life (FL, USA) announced a strategic partnership to supply placental-derived stem cell therapy products to Fountain Life’s longevity centers in Florida under the state’s new stem cell law, effective July 2025.
- Personalis (CA, USA) and Tempus AI (IL, USA) announced an expanded strategic collaboration, adding colorectal cancer as a fourth indication under their exclusive commercialization deal for the NeXT Personal® MRD test.
Initial Public Offering (IPO)
- Curanex Pharmaceuticals (NY, USA) raised its proposed IPO deal size to $19M to fund the development of its lead botanical drug candidate Phyto-N, for inflammatory and metabolic diseases.
Registered Direct Offering (RDO)
- Lixte Biotechnology Holdings, Inc. (NY, USA) raised $1.5M through a registered direct offering to support general corporate purposes and working capital as it advances clinical trials of its lead PP2A inhibitor, LB-100.
Closures and Layoffs
- CSL (PA, USA) to lay off an undisclosed number of employees to consolidate R&D operations and focus on external partnerships.
- Jasper Therapeutics (CA, USA) to lay off 40% of employees for failing to meet endpoints in the urticaria study due to a compromised drug lot.
- Century Therapeutics (PA, USA) to lay off 51% of employees to focus on programs with the highest potential following pipeline reprioritization.
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