A new year brings a fresh Fierce Biotech Fundraising Tracker designed to record the significant amount of venture capital that flows into biopharma.
We’re keeping the same guidelines used for last year’s tracker and will only include financing rounds of $50 million and above.
January
Jan. 13—Proxima
Series: Seed
Amount: $80M
Investors: DCVC, NVentures (NVIDIA’s venture capital arm), Braidwell, Roivant, AIX Ventures, Yosemite, Magnetic Ventures, Alexandria Venture Investments, Modi Ventures and others.
AI drug discovery outfit VantAI is rebranding to Proxima as it pockets $80 million to build a pipeline of "proximity therapeutics," based on interactions between proteins. Release
Jan. 12—Vibrant Therapeutics
Series: N/A
Amount: $61M
Investors: Pfizer Ventures, Apricot Capital, Bayland Capital, HSG, Northern Light Venture Capital and First Principle Venture
China and U.S.-based Vibrant will use the cash to advance a pipeline led by VIB305, a masked T-cell engager prodrug designed to treat EGFR-expressing solid tumors. VIB305 is alerady being evaluated in phase 1 clinical trials in Australia and China. Release
Jan. 12—Cytotheryx
Series: A
Amount: $60M
Investors: Ouroboros Family Founders Fund I
The Minnesota-based biotech will use the financing to "advance multiple programs into the clinic." Cytotheryx is using its bio-incubator platform for scalable liver cell production, as well as to develop a bioartificial liver support system for the treatment of acute liver failure, and a universal liver cell therapy designed for transplantation in patients with rare genetic and chronic liver diseases. Release
Jan. 10—Kinaset Therapeutics
Series: B
Amount: $103 million
Investors: RA Capital Management, Forge Life Science Partners, EQT Life Sciences, Vivo Capital, Schroders Capital, Willett Advisors, Pictet Alternative Advisors, Sixty Degree Capital, Atlas Venture, 5AM Ventures and Gimv.
The respiratory disease-focused biotech will use the funds to finance a phase 2 dose-ranging study of frevecitinib, an inhaled dry powder pan-JAK inhibitor in development for patients with asthma. Release
Jan. 9—AirNexis Therapeutics
Series: A
Amount: $200 million
Investors: Frazier Life Sciences, OrbiMed, Life Sciences at Goldman Sachs Alternatives, SR One, Longitude Capital and Enavate Sciences, among others.
AirNexis is taking flight with $200 million and a clinical-stage asset from Haisco Pharmaceutical Group that aims to treat lung disease. The PDE3/4 inhibitor is designed to expand the airways and reduce the release of inflammatory factors for patients with for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. AirNexis paid $40 million cash for development rights to the program outside of China and Haisco now holds a 20% equity stake in the biotech. Story
Jan. 9—Medipost
Series: N/A
Amount: $140 million
Investors: Skylake Equity Partners, Crescendo Equity Partners and a Korean growth equity fund.
Stem cell therapy-focused Medipost's parent company, also called Medipost, has raised $140 million to launch a phase 3 trial for its investigational mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) therapy. The trial will enroll patients with symptomatic cartilage defects and knee osteoarthritis, an inflammation-driven degenerative disease. Release
Jan. 8—Parabilis Medicines
Series: F
Amount: $305 million
Investors: RA Capital Management, Fidelity Management & Research Company, Janus Henderson Investors, Frazier Life Sciences, Soleus Capital, a life science-dedicated investment fund, venBio Partners, Cormorant Asset Management, Nextech Invest, ARCH Venture Partners, Milky Way Investments, GV, accounts advised by T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc., Marshall Wace, General Catalyst, Invus, Farallon Capital Management, Foresite Capital, Rock Springs Capital, HBM Healthcare, Samsara BioCapital, Catalio Capital Management, Sixty Degree Capital, Alderline Group and others.
The Massachusetts biotech, formerly known as FogPharma, will harness the new cash to advance FOG-001, recently renamed zolucatetide, toward a pivotal phase 3 trial in desmoid tumors. Parabilis will also use the large fundraise to support the rest of its pipeline—all preclinical—as well as to build out its platform capabilities. Story
Jan. 8—Alveus Therapeutics
Series: A
Amount: $160 million
Investors: Andera Partners, New Rhein Healthcare Investors, Omega Funds, Sanofi Capital, Kurma Partners, Avego BioScience Capital and others.
Looking to overcome some of the limitations of existing obesity drugs, Alveus has debuted with an impressive roster of executives ready to take the biotech’s mission forward. Launched under the stewardship of former I-Mab CEO Raj Kannan, Alveus aims to advance an undisclosed number of obesity candidates, with the dual-acting asset ALV-100 leading its current development roster. Story
Jan. 8—Diagonal Therapeutics
Series: B
Amount: $125 million
Investors: Sanofi Ventures, Janus Henderson Investors, Deep Track Capital, EcoR1 Capital, Logos Capital, Balyasny Asset Management L.P., Woodline Partners LP, Atlas Venture, BVF Partners, Lightspeed Venture Partners, RA Capital Management, Frazier Life Sciences, Viking Global Investors, RV Invest, Velosity Capital, Biovision Ventures and Checkpoint Capital.
Diagonal will use the raise to move its first-in-class rare disease drug DIAG723 into a first-in-human trial, which is set to begin in the first half of this year in patients with hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia. The new investment will also help advance the biotech's earlier pipeline of assets, which are designed to selectively address the underlying causes of disease in conditions spanning hematology, hepatology and nephrology. Story
Jan. 8—EpiBiologics
Series: B
Amount: $107 million
Investors: Google Venture, Johnson & Johnson, Novartis Venture Fund, Aulis Capital, Avego BioScience Capital, Samsara BioCapital, Polaris Partners, Digitalis Ventures, Taiho Ventures, Vivo Capital, Codon Capital and Mission BioCapital.
The San Francisco Bay Area-based biotech plans to use the cash is to take its lead bispecific antibody, dubbed EPI-326, into the clinic. The goal is to launch a clinical trial of the EGFR degrader in non-small cell lung cancer and head and neck squamous cell carcinoma early this year. Story
Jan. 8—Beacon Therapeutics
Series: C
Amount: $75 million-plus
Investors: Life Sciences at Goldman Sachs Alternatives, the Retinal Degeneration Fund, the venture arm of Foundation Fighting Blindness, Syncona Limited, Forbion, Oxford Science Enterprises and Advent Life Sciences.
As the biotech awaits phase 3 data in X-linked retinitis pigmentosa for its lead candidate laru-zova, Beacon is bringing in more than $75 million to get the gene therapy across the finish line and potentially to market. The funds will also support preclinical programs in geographic atrophy, an inherited cone rod dystrophy and another undisclosed asset. Release
Jan. 7—Soley Therapeutics
Series: C
Amount: $200 million
Investors: Surveyor Capital, HRTG Partners, RWN Management, Doug Leone Family Fund, Breyer Capital and GordonMD Global Investments
The South San Francisco-based company’s pipeline uses a cell stress sensing platform that harnesses artificial intelligence and “computer vision” to analyze thousands of responses in human cells. The fresh funds have been earmarked to take two of Soley’s oncology drugs into the clinic, led by an acute myeloid leukemia asset. Story
Jan. 7—Rakuten Medical
Series: F
Amount: $100 million
Investors: TaiAx Life Science Fund, Daiwa Securities, Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking, ABIES Capital, Nexus CVC, OEP Group, SBI Group, Rakuten Group and Rakuten Medical CEO Mickey Mikitani
San Diego-based Rakuten Medical is focused on a global phase 3 trial evaluating ASP-1929 in combination with Merck & Co.’s Keytruda as a first-line treatment for recurrent head and neck cancer. ASP-1929 consists of the anti-epidermal growth factor receptor antibody cetuximab conjugated to the light-activatable dye IRDye 700DX. Story
Jan. 7—Corsera Health
Series: A
Amount: $80 million
Investors: Forbion, Population Health Partners and others.
RNAi outfit Corsera will use the raise to support its first clinical trial, a phase 1 study of PCSK9-targeting siRNA COR-1004 that just began dosing patients. The company's lead cardiovascular program also includes COR-2003, which is designed to target angiotensinogen and is set to enter a clinical trial of its own in mid-2026. The biotech's goal is to develop preventative RNAi medicines for cardiovascular health that are taken yearly. Release
Jan. 7—Poplar Therapeutics
Series: A
Amount: $50 million
Investors: SR One, Vida Ventures and Platanus
The immunology company, previously known as Phylaxis Bioscience, will use the series A funds to advance its pipeline of anti-IgE therapies for food allergy and other atopic conditions. Poplar hopes its lead asset PHB-050, which is already in phase 1 trials, will offer a treatment for patients with highly elevated IgE levels who can't benefit from existing therapies. Release