Amgen to Buy Horizon for $28B in the Year’s Biggest Pharma Takeover

Published on : Published by : BioBuzz Media

Am­gen plans to buy Hori­zon Ther­a­peu­tics for about $28 bil­lion in cash, bring­ing on board two block­buster drugs to ease the hit the biotech gi­ant faces from biosim­i­lar com­pe­ti­tion.
The com­pa­nies an­nounced the deal in a press re­lease Mon­day morn­ing, about two weeks af­ter it was dis­closed that Am­gen, Sanofi and John­son & John­son’s Janssen were all in talks. Am­gen struck the deal af­ter agree­ing to pay $116.50, a 48% pre­mi­um over Hori­zon’s price, be­fore the talks be­came pub­lic on Nov. 29.

iECURE Snags $65 Million to Support Knock-In Gene Editing Asset for OTC Deficiency

Published on : Published by : Alex Keown

Philadelphia-based iECURE, which is collaborating with Jim Wilson’s Gene Therapy Program (GTP) at University of Pennsylvania, secured $65 million in Series A-1 financing to support its knock-in gene editing therapeutics for liver disorders. Combined with $50 million raised in a previous Series A round, iECURE is well-financed to take its lead asset, GTP-506 into the clinic.

Haystack Oncology Launches with $56 Million in Series A Financing to Accelerate Adoption of Post-Op Cancer Detection Technology and Optimize Cancer Therapy Monitoring and Treatment

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Haystack Oncology (“Haystack”), an oncology company that applies the next generation of circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) detection technology to optimize minimal residual disease (MRD) testing and better inform decisions around therapy, today announced that it raised $56 million in Series A financing. The funding will be used for the continued development and planned 2023 commercialization of its best-in-class personalized cancer diagnostic test that can detect as few as one mutant molecule in a million DNA molecules, positioning it as the most sensitive ctDNA-based MRD test for use in solid tumors. The financing was led by Catalio Capital Management (“Catalio”), which co-founded Haystack through its private equity and structured equity investment vehicles. Additional investors include Bruker, Exact Ventures, the venture arm of Exact Sciences and Alexandria Venture Investments.

In Conversation: President and CEO Allen Cunningham and CSO Shaharyar Khan, Rivus Pharmaceuticals

Rivus Pharmaceuticals
Published on : Published by : Steven Surdez

In Conversation: President and CEO Allen Cunningham and CSO Shaharyar Khan, Rivus Pharmaceuticals There’s a tremendous amount of life sciences momentum and excitement emanating from the rapidly emerging Charlottesville biocluster. [….]

Charlottesville’s ZielBio sets sights on $75M raise

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Charlottesville’s ZielBio sets sights on $75M raise Email Facebook LinkedIn Twitter
Kimberly Kelly is the founder and CEO of ZielBio.
Meghan McSweeney
By James Shea – Richmond Inno
November 09, 2022, 01:20pm EST
Charlottesville’s ZielBio finalized a $15 million funding round this summer to complete initial trials of a cancer treatment drug it hopes to bring to market in 2024.
The genesis for the company started when founder and CEO Kimberly Kelly was completing a post-doctoral fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital. She noticed a correlation in some cancers with the progression of cancer-specific plectin, a protein. The protein became more prevalent in part of cancer cells as certain cancers progressed. She began researching ways to target the plectin as a treatment.
Kelly took a position as a professor in biomedical engineering at the University of Virginia and continued her research. She developed a targeted treatment and initially talked to pharmaceutical companies about licensing the technology. Because the approach was new, the companies wanted to see more data. That meant spinning the technology off from the university and seeking private financing.
“The government and the institutions like the universities don’t have the money to do the $10 million for manufacturing and…

BioHealth Capital Region 2022 Q3 News Recap – Keeping Up the Momentum

Published on : Published by : Alex Keown

BioHealth Capital Region 2022 Q3 News Recap – Keeping Up the Momentum A few of BioBuzz’s favorite stories from late summer/early fall Over the past several months, life sciences companies [….]

TEDCO’s Pre-Seed Builder Fund Invests in NanoBioFAB

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TEDCO, Maryland’s economic engine for technology companies, announced today its Builder Fund invested in NanoBioFAB, a Frederick, Md.  technology start-up. TEDCO’s Builder Fund invests in and provides executive support to Maryland-based technology companies run by entrepreneurs who demonstrate economic disadvantage.

Marinus Pharmaceuticals Announces $32.5 Million Revenue Interest Financing Agreement with Sagard Healthcare Partners

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Marinus Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: MRNS), a pharmaceutical company dedicated to the development of innovative therapeutics to treat seizure disorders, today announced that it has entered into a revenue interest financing agreement with Sagard Healthcare Partners for a total of $32.5 million upfront in return for payments based on U.S. net sales of ganaxolone, including the recently approved ZTALMY® (ganaxolone) oral suspension CV.

PTC Therapeutics Announces Strategic Financing Collaboration with Blackstone with up to $1 Billion in Funding

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PTC Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: PTCT) today announced that it has entered into a strategic financing collaboration with funds managed by Blackstone (NYSE: BX) to support its mission to reach a steady-state of delivering at least one therapy every 2-3 years to continue to bring transformative medicines to patients globally. As part of the collaboration, funds managed by Blackstone Life Sciences and Blackstone Credit will provide PTC with an initial $500 million commitment, including $350 million in low-cost, low-dilution capital at close.

AgroSpheres Raises $22 million Series B to Accelerate Commercialization and Manufacturing of Reliable Biobased Solutions

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AgroSpheres, a leader in developing the next generation of environmentally friendly crop health products, announced today that it had raised $22 million in a Series B financing round led by Lewis & Clark AgriFood and Ospraie Ag Science. Bidra Innovation Ventures and its existing investor, Cavallo Ventures, participated in the financing round. This funding will be used to accelerate product commercialization, expand manufacturing capacity, and seed broader applications of the AgroSpheres AgriCell platform technology.