TEDCO, Maryland’s economic engine for technology companies, announced today its Builder Fund invested $100,000 in LASARRUS, who are researching and developing devices for improved patient monitoring and treatment. TEDCO’s Builder Fund invests in and provides executive support to Maryland-based technology companies run by entrepreneurs who demonstrate economic disadvantage.
Eagle Pharmaceuticals is keeping an eye on Enalare Therapeutics’ lead respiratory candidate, and apparently, so is the US government.
The New Jersey-based biotech struck a deal with BARDA worth up to $50.3 million to develop the lead compound, dubbed ENA-001, the company announced on Tuesday. The candidate is designed to simulate breathing and is meant to be used in emergency cases when treating drug overdoses or respiratory depression post-surgery.
According to Enalare, the first phase of the contract will give it $6 million to complete any actions through its Phase I trial. The overall award, which will be based on several milestones in R&D and production, will give funding for toxicology, human trials, manufacturing and regulatory filings.
The seas have been rough this year for the biotech and life sciences market, with funding scarcity and layoffs abound. The BioHealth Capital Region (BHCR) has braced the storm, though, holding tight to its fourth-place ranking on the Genetic & Engineering News (GEN) Top 10 Biopharma Clusters list. Alex Phillipidus, Senior Business Editor for GEN, gave the update at the eighth annual BioHealth Capital Region Forum.
Gaithersburg-based Neuroene Therapeutics and its approach to treating a rare form of epilepsy was crowned the winner of the seventh annual Crab Trap Competition, which highlights the commercialization potential of biohealth technologies throughout the BioHealth Capital Region.
Rivus Pharmaceuticals Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company dedicated to improving cardio-metabolic health, today announced the completion of a $132 million Series B financing led by RA Capital Management with participation from Bain Capital Life Sciences, BB Biotech AG and existing investors Longitude Capital, Medicxi and RxCapital. This financing will further support clinical advancement of lead candidate HU6, a first-in-class Controlled Metabolic Accelerator (CMA) designed to treat cardio-metabolic disease by addressing obesity, a primary driver of disease.
Sesen Bio’s decade-plus journey is over after failing to secure a bladder cancer drug approval and carve its own path for IL-6 antibodies. The Cambridge, MA company’s spot on Nasdaq will serve as the new home for Carisma Therapeutics, which is attempting to usher in a new CAR cell therapy in the world of macrophages and monocytes.
The two are executing an all-stock reverse merger, with the future resting solely on Carisma’s lineup of therapies, including a Phase I asset that had some limited data presented at ASCO in June. The Philadelphia startup will begin trading under the aptly symboled ticker $CARM in three to four months, the companies said Wednesday morning.
Alphyn Biologics, a clinical-stage dermatology company, has closed a $3.3 million Series A round led by Queen City Angels, with participation from the Angel Physicians Fund and Serial Stage Venture Partners. So far, Alphyn, which has dual headquarters in Annapolis, Md., and Cincinnati, Ohio, has raised $6.7 million, including a seed round of over $1 million, and a second round of more than $2 million.
“This financing allows us to begin an accelerated global multicenter clinical trial program to support a new drug application with the FDA and other national health authorities,” Alphyn CEO Neal Koller. Alphyn addresses infectious skin diseases, including some drug-resistant variants, and skin cancer. Its Phase2a clinical trial is for AB-101a, the company’s lead candidate to treat mild-to-moderate atopic dermatitis.
Companies just looking to get their start in the biotech and life sciences field often have limited funds and lots of time ahead of them before they get to FDA approval. And as the biotech industry faces what could be a long bear market due to inflation and rising interest rates, the costs of business from research to manufacturing have increased significantly. Now more than ever funding can be hard to come by, especially for those just getting started.
Biotechnology companies have become a huge attraction for VC dollars in the Philly region in the last several years, and a handful of companies in the sector this week have helped prove that growth.
Technological advances have accelerated discoveries across the life sciences, and money is flowing toward therapies, research and in honor of those lost to certain diseases (a family donated $55 million to the University of Pennsylvania for breast cancer research this week). Let’s dive into who’s gotten funding:
TEDCO, Maryland’s economic engine for technology companies, announced today it invested $1 million in Medcura, Inc. through the new State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI). Based in Riverdale, MD, Medcura is a life science and medical device company that has commercialized its first product derived from its advanced wound treatment platform for rapid bleeding management and is in the final stages of development of the next standard of care for the management of intraoperative surgical bleeding.
