Optimum’s clients raise nearly US$2bn in ’24, with more to come in ’25!
2024 saw our clients raise nearly US$2 billion in what turned out to be a busy year! As we head into 2025, we hope to see the funding translate into results in the clinic, with many more financings in the pipeline.
Seed
Disco Pharmaceuticals (Germany) launched with a €20 million (US$21 million) seed financing to progress its transformative surfaceome discovery technology, which enables a comprehensive map of the cancer cell surface to identify a multitude of druggable targets.
Alys Pharmaceuticals (UK) launched with US$100 million Seed Financing from Medicxi to form a new R&D-centric multi-platform pipeline in immuno-dermatology.
Series A
Ottimo Pharma (UK/US), led by David Epstein, completed a Series A financing round of over US$140 million. The financing will accelerate lead asset, Jankistomig, a first-in-class PD1/VEGFR2 bifunctional antibody for the treatment of multiple solid tumour indications, in both IV and SC forms, as well as a pipeline of follow-on bifunctional assets.
Another eye-catching Series A financing came from Antag (Denmark), which raised €80 million ($83 million) to support the clinical development of AT-7687, a novel, once-weekly subcutaneous antagonist of the Glucose Dependent Insulinotropic Polypeptide Receptor (GIPR), and the expansion of Antag’s pipeline of monthly injectable therapies.
Novo Holdings led a $92 million Series A financing for Kive Bioscience, an early-stage biotech developing next generation antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) programs. Through a licensing agreement with Synaffix, Kivu’s ADC programs utilize the proprietary site-specific linker-payload technology GlycoConnect, which was developed to enhance efficacy and improve safety and tolerability in the treatment of a wide variety of cancer types.
Novo Holdings also co-led a £90 million (US$114 million) Series A financing for Myricx Bio (UK) to advance a novel payload class for ADCs. Funds will be used to build out Myricx Bio’s proprietary payload platform and advance its pipeline through clinical proof of concept.
Freya Biosciences (Denmark and US) announced a $10.4 million strategic investment from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation with $1.4 million additional financing from current invest Expert and Investment Fund of Denmark (EIFO). The new investment extends Series A investment to about $50 million.
Astronautx (UK) closed a £48 million (US$61 million) Series A financing to create new treatments for Alzheimer’s disease.
UK’s Curve announced a £40.5 million (US$51 million) Series A Financing, turbocharging its discovery platform and advancing its breakthrough pipeline.
Adcendo (Denmark) announced an extended €98 million (US$103 million) Series A financing to further bolster its first-in-class antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) pipeline.
LoQus23 (UK) announced its £35 million (US$44 million) Series A financing to advance its small molecule somatic expansion inhibition therapy for Huntington’s disease.
Sweden’s Asgard Therapeutics announced a €30 million Series A financing (US$31 million) to advance its first-in-class in vivo cell reprogramming platform for immuno-oncology.
Netherlands-based Flindr Therapeutics B.V. announced a €20 million Series A financing (US$21 million) to advance its pipeline of first-in-class, small molecule inhibitors for treatment of cancer.
Series B
In the ADC space, Pheon Therapeutics (UK) announced a US$120 million Series B financing to fund development of its differentiated ADC pipeline.
Vicebio (UK) announced a US$100 million Series B financing led by TCGX with investment from Goldman Sachs Alternatives, Avoro Ventures, venBio, and participation from UniQuest and founding investor Medicxi. Funding supported and accelerated development of next-generation multivalent respiratory virus vaccines using proprietary Molecular Clamp technology.
Switzerland’s iOnctura closed an €80 million (US$84 million) Series B financing led by new investor Syncona with participation from the European Innovation Council Fund as well as existing investors. It provides funding to progress the company’s oncology pipeline through Phase II trials.
Noema Pharma announced the successful close of a Series B extension financing round with a CHF 130 million (US$147 million) investment from EQT Life Sciences. With its investment in Noema Pharma, EQT Life Sciences joins the syndicate of previous Series B investors including Forbion, Jeito Capital, Sofinnova Partners, Gilde Healthcare, Polaris Partners, Invus and UPMC Enterprises.
Resolution Therapeutics (UK) raised £63.5 million (US$81 million) in a Series B financing. The fundraising will advance lead asset RTX001, an engineered, pro-regenerative macrophage therapy with first-in-class potential for end-stage liver disease, into the Phase I/II EMERALD study.
SynOx Therapeutics (Ireland) raised US$75 million Series B round to fund its Phase 3 trial of emactuzumab, a best-in-class treatment for tensynovial giant cell tumour (TGCT).
NeoPhore (UK) announced a Series B extension financing round which brought the total raised to £31.1 million (approx. US$39.5 million).
Series C and others
Asceneuron (Switzerland) secured US$100 million in a Series C Financing to advance its groundbreaking therapeutics in neurodegenerative diseases.
Novo Holdings led a US$105 million financing in Magenta Medical (Israel), developer of the Elevate™ System, the world’s smallest heart pump.
Novo Holdings also led SiteOne’s $100 million Series C financing, to advance its early pipeline of non-opioid therapeutics that target the peripheral nervous system instead of the central nervous system.
Oxford Nanopore (UK), the leading UK listed company behind a new generation of molecular sensing technology based on nanopores, received a £50m (US$63 million) investment from Novo Holdings.
Medicxi, a leading European life sciences investment firm, announced an investment of $40 million in D3 Bio, a biotechnology company based in Shanghai, China. D3 Bio is focused on the discovery, development, and registration of innovative medicines in oncology and immunology. The investment will accelerate the development of D3 Bio’s innovative pipeline of oncology compounds. Francesco De Rubertis, Partner at Medicxi, will join the Board of D3 Bio.
Mission Therapeutics (UK), a clinical-stage biotech developing first-in-class therapeutics that enhance mitophagy to promote cell/organ health, announced it had raised £25.2 million (US$32 million) to progress the clinical development of its drug candidates.
DelSiTech (Finland) announced the closing of a €10 million (US$10.5 million) financing to advance its silica-based drug delivery platform.
Continue reading Optimum’s 2024 year in review with the research and M&A editions!
