Kupando, MicroTransponder, Rivus Pharmaceuticals
Swiss biotech startup Hedera Dx raises €14 million in its mission to improve cancer treatment options
Today, the Swiss innovators announce the raise of €14 million in seed funding. The round was led by Adam Ghobarah, founder of Top Harvest Capital and former longtime executive at Google and Google Ventures, with Inventure, Air Street Capital, Amino Collective and GRIDS Capital also participating.
In addition to launching commercially this autumn, the company will use the funding to implement the first phase of a large oncology Real World Evidence (RWE) clinical testing program.
Founded in 2021 by Tommi Lehtonen, Damien Lapray and Christian Meisel, Hedera Dx is taking a pioneering new approach to cancer treatment – the use of liquid biopsies. It centers around a blood-based testing solution to profile cancer DNA circulating in the blood, helping patients access better treatments. Hedera Dx wants to give access to this treatment to patients at risk of or already suffering from cancer.
Swiss biotech startup Hedera Dx raises €14 million in its mission to improve cancer treatment options | EU-Startups
Lausanne-headquartered Hedera Dx is pioneering the adoption of liquid biopsy in cancer treatments. The biotech startup has just raised €14 million to push
Kupando Raises €13M in Series A Funding
Kupando, a Schoenefeld, Germany-based biopharmaceutical company developing TLR 4/7 agonists that stimulate innate immunity for use in oncology and infectious diseases, closed a €13m Series A funding.
The round was led by Remiges Ventures and co-led by LifeCare Partners with an additional investment by Brandenburg Kapital, High-Tech Gründerfonds, Ventura Biomed Investors and undisclosed family offices.
The funds will be used to complete IND-enabling work and to initiate the clinical development of Kupando’s lead candidate KUP101 in a solid tumor indication.
Led by Johanna Holldack, CEO, and Pierre Morgon, PharmD, LL.M, MBA, Chairman, Kupando is a biopharmaceutical company developing TLR 4/7 agonists that stimulate innate immunity for use in oncology and infectious diseases. The company uses its small molecule-based drug candidates to build a pipeline in several indications, in-house or via strategic partnerships, as single agent, or in combination with checkpoint inhibitors, other drugs or antigens. Its drug candidate KUP101 is the only TLR 4/7 agonist in development and consists of two small molecules, TLR4 agonist and TLR7 agonist, co-encapsulated. The compounds induce a broad immune response, which will facilitate their development as an anti-tumor agent, as a stand-alone product, in combination with other anti-tumor modalities, or a prophylactic vaccine for infectious diseases. The induction of cross-reactive antibodies and a broad cellular response are promising features for a broad portfolio of indications, in particular where different strains and antigens play a role like influenza, HPV and others. A high target specificity in the absence of relevant off-targets are indicators for a promising safety profile. Kupando is based on technology invented by Dennis Carson’s Laboratory at the University of California San Diego.
https://www.finsmes.com/2022/09/kupando-raises-e13m-in-series-a-funding.htmlLyfegen Raises $8 Million to Drive Down Drug Costs and Help Patients Access Life-Saving Medications
Lyfegen, a global healthtech SaaS company driving the world’s transition from volume to value-based healthcare for high-cost drugs, today announced an oversubscribed $8 million Series A financing round led by aMoon, with additional participation from APEX Ventures and others.
Their plan now is to further expand their presence in the US, partnering with both private and public healthcare insurance companies.
Lyfegen is an independent, global software analytics company providing a value and outcome-based agreement platform for health insurances, pharma, medtech & hospitals around the globe. The secure platform identifies and operationalizes value-based payment models cost-effectively and at scale using a variety of real-world data and machine learning. With Lyfegen’s patent-pending platform, health insurances & hospitals can implement and scale value-based healthcare, improving access to treatments, patient health outcomes and affordability.
Lyfegen Raises $8 Million to Drive Down Drug Costs and Help Patients Access Life-Saving Medications
Lyfegen’s value-based contracting software is used by healthcare payers and leading pharma companies, including Novartis, Roche, MSD, Bristol Myers Squibb…
Oxford medtech Optellum gets $14 million shot to accelerate early detection of lung cancer
AI-enabled platform Optellum has raised $14 million in a Series A round to diagnose and treat early-stage lung cancer. The Oxford-based medtech company has attained FDA clearance, CE-MDR in the EU, and UKCA in the U.K. for its software platform. Its Virtual Nodule Clinic is a platform that helps physicians identify and track at-risk patients, and optimally diagnose the signs of lung cancer early. Thus, treatment can start sooner for patients with tumours, and invasive procedures such as biopsies on benign lesions are minimised.
The investment will enable the company to scale its base, operations and commercial launches in the U.K. and U.S. The funding will also accelerate its research and development and enable the startup to expand its platform into personalised therapy decisions, integrating imaging with molecular data, robotics, and liquid biopsies.
The Series A round was led by Mercia, with additional backing from Intuitive Ventures, Black Opal Ventures and existing investors, including St John’s College in the University of Oxford, IQ Capital, and the family office of Sir Martin & Lady Audrey Wood.
Oxford medtech Optellum gets $14 million shot to accelerate early detection of lung cancer - Tech.eu
The investment will enable the company to scale its base, operations and commercial launches in the U.K. and U.S.
Rivus Pharmaceuticals Closes $132M Series B Financing
Rivus Pharmaceuticals Inc., a Charlottesville, VA-based clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company dedicated to improving cardio-metabolic health, completed a $132m Series B financing.
The round was led by RA Capital Management with participation from Bain Capital Life Sciences, BB Biotech AG and existing investors Longitude Capital, Medicxi and RxCapital. In conjunction with the funding, Derek DiRocco, partner at RA Capital, new board director.
The company intends to use the funds for clinical advancement of lead candidate HU6, a Controlled Metabolic Accelerator (CMA) designed to treat cardio-metabolic disease by addressing obesity, a primary driver of disease.
Led by Allen Cunningham, President and CEO, Rivus Pharmaceuticals is a leader in mitochondrial biology dedicated to improving cardio-metabolic health by advancing a new class of medicines, Controlled Metabolic Accelerators (CMAs). Its small molecule therapy, HU6, represents an opportunity to empower patients on their journey to health when facing a broad range of conditions, including obesity, heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF), type 2 diabetes, and Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD)/Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH).
https://www.finsmes.com/2022/09/rivus-pharmaceuticals-closes-132m-series-b-financing.htmlMicroTransponder Closes $73M in Series E Financing
MicroTransponder, an Austin, TX-based company focused on restoring dignity and enhancing daily living for people suffering from neurological conditions that impair sensory and motor function, raised $73M in Series E funding.
The round was led by US Venture Partners, GPG Ventures and Exceller Hunt Ventures with participation from Osage University Partners, Action Potential Venture Capital and The Vertical Group.
The company intends to use the funds for the market development and commercialization of its FDA-approved Vivistim Paired VNS System, which uses vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) during rehabilitation therapy to improve upper limb function for stroke survivors.
Led by CEO Richard Foust and newly added COO Prashant Rawat, MicroTransponder is a global medical device company committed to developing research-based neuroscience solutions. Its FDA-approved VivistimPaired VNS System is a clinically proven medical technology that generates more improvement in upper limb function than rehabilitation alone for stroke survivors after six weeks of in-clinic therapy.
https://www.finsmes.com/2022/09/microtransponder-closes-73m-in-series-e-financing.html