On January 7th, XyloCor Therapeutics announced the completion of $67.5 million in Series B funding. This round of financing is led by Jeito Capital, with existing investors such as EQT, Fountain Healthcare Partners, and Lumira Ventures also participating. The funds from this round of financing will be used to support two Phase 2 clinical trials of its one-time gene therapy XC001, targeting refractory angina and as an adjuvant therapy for coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) surgery.
On January 8th, Tenvie Therapeutics officially announced its establishment and successfully completed a $200 million Series A funding round. This round of financing is led by ARCH Venture Partners, F-Prime Capital, and Mubadala Capital, and has attracted multiple investors to participate.
Tenvie is committed to developing a series of small molecule drugs with high brain permeability and peripheral restriction, aimed at targeting the three key driving factors of disease, namely regulating inflammation, improving metabolic dysfunction, and restoring lysosomal function. The company's research and development pipeline covers multiple indication areas such as neurology, cardiac metabolism, and ophthalmic diseases. Among them, the fastest progressing projects include an NLRP3 inhibitor and a SARM1 allosteric inhibitor, both of which are currently in the preclinical development stage to support IND. In addition, the company has also laid out projects related to neuroprotective pathways, such as the development of targets such as TRPML1 and TMEM175, further enriching its diversified product pipeline.
On January 10th, Windward Bio announced its official establishment and completed a $200 million Series A financing. This financing is led by OrbiMed, Novo Holdings, and Blue Own Healthcare Opportunities, SR One,Omega Funds,RTW Investments, Qiming Venture Capital, Quan Capital, and Pivot BioVenture Partners participated in the investment. The funds obtained from the financing will be used to drive the completion of preclinical studies supporting IND initiation for two undisclosed projects. The company also announced that it has reached a nearly $1 billion agreement with Kolombotai and HBM78 Pharmaceuticals to obtain global development rights for WIN378 (HBM9378/SHB378) outside of China and certain Asian markets. WIN378 is a long-acting monoclonal antibody that targets TSLP ligands and is expected to be administered every 6 months. Windward Bio is preparing to launch a phase 2 clinical trial for WIN378 targeting severe asthma, with preliminary clinical data expected to be released in 2026. The company also plans to conduct more clinical trials in patients with asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). In addition, the company is establishing a pipeline for the discovery of long-acting bispecific antibodies, utilizing validated targets and synergistic biological mechanisms to achieve optimal therapeutic outcomes for immunological indications.
On January 10th, Ouro Medicines announced its official establishment and completed a $120 million Series A funding round. The company was jointly founded by Monograph Capital and GSK, dedicated to developing immune reset therapies to assist patients with chronic immune-mediated diseases. This round of financing is jointly led by TPG Life Sciences Innovations, NEA, and Norwest Venture Partners, with participation from Monograph Capital, GSK, UPMC Enterprises, Boyu/Zoo Capital, LongRiver Investments, and other unnamed investors.
On January 10th, RhyGaze announced that it has received $86 million in Series A funding, which will be used to further develop its main clinical candidate gene therapy aimed at restoring vision to patients who have lost their sight due to the disease through optogenetics technology. This round of financing is led by Google Ventures (GV), with Arch Venture Partners, F-Prime Capital, and founding investors BioGeneration Ventures and Novartis Venture Fund also participating.
On January 12th, Tune Therapeutics announced the completion of a $175 million Series B funding round, led by New Enterprise Associates, Yosemite, Regeneron Ventures, and Hevolution Foundation. The funds raised from the financing will be used to drive the development of the company's existing product line, particularly the research and development of its epigenetic silencing agent Tune-401, as well as other gene, cell therapy, and regenerative therapy projects.
On January 13th, Normnity announced the completion of a $75 million Series B funding round, led by Samsara BioCapital and Enavate Sciences. New investors such as Regeneron Ventures, Pfizer Ventures, and YK Bioventures, as well as existing investors Canaan Partners, Sanofi Ventures, Taiho Ventures, Osage University Partners, HongShan Capital Group, and Connecticut Innovations, are also involved. The funds raised from the financing will mainly promote the clinical development of its flagship project NRM-823 and further expand its product pipeline. Normnity is a biotechnology company focused on developing novel anti-cancer therapies, with its flagship project NRM-823 being a T-cell adapter that targets a novel tumor associated target highly expressed in various solid tumors. Preclinical data shows that the drug exhibits picomolar level cell killing activity and significant efficacy in transgenic mouse models of various cancers in vitro, without causing downregulation of surface protein expression. Researchers expect that this target can be applied to other biological product models, including antibody conjugated drugs (ADCs) and radiotherapeutic drugs. The product is expected to enter phase 1 clinical trials in the second half of 2025.
<Reprinted from WuXi AppTec>
