Tag: equity
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Genzyme Licensing Gene Therapies from Biotech Start-Up
11 February 2015. Voyager Therapeutics, a designer of gene therapies for central nervous system diseases, is licensing some of its treatments now in development to Genzyme Corp., a biotechnology subsidiary of the drug maker Sanofi. The deal is expected to bring the one year-old spin-off from four university research labs as much as $845 million.…
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Biochemistry Spin-Off Formed, Gains $45M Funding
4 February 2015. Revolution Medicines Inc., a spin-off enterprise based on research in protein chemistry at University of Illinois, is starting up with $45 million in first-round venture funds. The company is founded by Illinois biochemistry professor Martin Burke, and initially financed by Third Rock Ventures, a San Francisco venture capital firm. Burke’s lab in…
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Neuro Disease Biotech Raises $20M in Early Funds
3 February 2015. Lysosomal Therapeutics Inc., a biotechnology company developing treatments for inherited neurodegenerative disorders, raised $20 million in its first venture funding round. The Cambridge, Massachusetts enterprise, begun last year, is backed by several venture capital funds and pharmaceutical companies. Lysosomal Therapeutics is based on the research of Dimitri Krainc, a neurologist now at Northwestern…
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Gene Therapy Biotech Raises $161M in IPO
30 January 2015. Spark Therapeutics Inc., a biotechnology company in Philadelphia, is raising $161 million in its initial public stock offering. The company, developing genetic therapies for inherited diseases, priced 7 million shares of its common stock at $23.00 a share. The stock trades on the NASDAQ exchange under the symbol ONCE, and as of…
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Zymeworks, Celgene to Develop Double-Binding Antibodies
21 January 2015. Zymeworks Inc., a biotechnology company in Vancouver, Canada and pharmaceutical maker Celgene Inc. are developing biologic therapies using Zymeworks’ antibody technology. The deal makes Zymeworks eligible for up to $164 million from Celgene for each candidate developed under the partnership, as well as an unspecified initial payment and equity investment. Under the…
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Behavioral App Developer Lands $20 Million in Venture Funds
13 January 2015. Ginger.io, a company in San Francisco developing smartphone apps for monitoring mental state and wellness, raised $20 million in its second venture financing cycle. The new funding was led by first-round investors Khosla Ventures and True Ventures, with participation by undisclosed new investors. Ginger.io, a spin-off from human dynamics research at MIT’s…
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Roche Buys $1 Billion Stake in Cancer Genetics Company
12 January 2015. Pharmaceutical company Roche is acquiring a majority stake in Foundation Medicine, a company conducting personal genomic analyses for cancer patients. The investment, licensing, and collaboration deal is expected to bring Foundation Medicine, in Cambridge, Massachusetts more than $1 billion. Foundation Medicine — founded by scientists at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School,…
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Fertility Science Company Raises $115 Million in IPO
8 January 2015. OvaScience Inc., a developer of fertility treatments using a woman’s early-forming egg cells, issued its initial public offering of common stock, raising some $115 million. The Cambridge, Massachusetts company that trades on the NASDAQ exchange under the symbol OVAS, issued 2.3 million shares yesterday priced at $50.00. At 12 noon on 8…
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Novartis Licensing Biotechs’ Gene-Editing Technologies
7 January 2015. Pharmaceutical maker Novartis is licensing technologies from two biotechnology companies that enable the editing of human genomes to cure disease. Financial details of the agreements with Caribou Biosciences Inc. in Berkeley, California and Intellia Therapeutics in Cambridge, Massachusetts were not disclosed, but involve equity investments, initial payments and research support, and milestone…
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RNA Therapies Company Gains $450M in Venture Funds
5 January 2015. Moderna Therapeutics, a developer of medications that use genetic material to produce therapeutic proteins in the body, raised $450 million in its third announced venture financing round. The Cambridge, Massachusetts biotechnology company says existing investors AstraZeneca and Alexion Pharmaceuticals joined with new participants Viking Global Investors LP, Invus, RA Capital Management, and…