There are many more shots on cancer this week as funding went to oncology-focused companies such as GluBio and Shanghai-based OriCell.
GluBio Adds $22M for TPD Platform
Investors Pour $120M into OriCell’s Cancer Immunology Efforts
Sironax Bolsters Fight against Degenerative Diseases with $200M Series B
Existing Stockholders Prop Up AEON’s Botulinum Injection
Core Biogenesis Win $10.5M for Environmentally Friendly Model
There are many more shots on cancer this week as funding went to oncology-focused companies such as GluBio and Shanghai-based OriCell. China-based Sirolax scooped up a whopping $200 million to fight degenerative diseases, and French Core Biogenesis is building a new manufacturing facility for eco-friendly growth factor production.
GluBio Adds $22M for TPD Platform
After a Series A+ financing round, GluBio Therapeutics added another $22 million, bringing its total assets to almost $90 million. The biotech company focuses on developing novel targeted protein degradation (TPD) drugs, and with this latest cash boost, it now has the resources to launch two molecular glue degrading products to clinical stages. Both are intended to help treat hematological malignancies. The new funds will also go toward upgrading the company’s proprietary TPD platform, which identifies small-molecule protein degraders and accelerating lead optimization for three more assets targeting solid tumors and inflammatory diseases.
Investors Pour $120M into OriCell’s Cancer Immunology Efforts
Cancer immunology company OriCell Bio closed a victorious Series B financing round with the equivalent of USD$120 million. The Shanghai-based company had support from major Chinese investors such as Qiming Venture Partners, Quan Capital and C&D Emerging Capital.
Some of the funding will help OriCell to build a new manufacturing plant and advance its discovery platform. It will also support the development of Ori-C101, a chimeric antigen receptor T cell (CAR-T) product intended to treat liver cancer, which was recently accepted as an investigational new drug by the National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) of China.
OriCell also needs the funds to advance OriCAR-017, a CAR-T treatment for relapsed and refractory multiple myeloma, through clinical development in both the U.S. and China.
Sironax Bolsters Fight against Degenerative Diseases with $200M Series B
Also in Beijing, Sironax scooped up roughly $200 million in a Series B round of financing, led by Gaorong Capital and Yunfeng Capital. The biotech company develops treatments for age-related degenerative diseases and so far, it has garnered more than $300 million in funding.
Sironax said it plans to use the money to expand R&D and pipeline efforts, especially for the clinical development of its portfolio of RIPK1 inhibitors. The funding will also go toward advancing programs that study the underlying mechanisms of age-related degenerative diseases, such as regulated cell death, neuroprotective pathways and neuroinflammation.
“We have built a robust pipeline of novel programs of both small molecules and biologics that target critical pathways underlying degenerative disease pathogenesis,” Sironax CEO Aaron Ren, Ph.D. said. “With this investment, we are well-positioned to advance additional programs into the clinic and continue to move our lead program forward.”
Existing Stockholders Prop Up AEON’s Botulinum Injection
California-based AEON Biopharma has investors that are so committed they put an additional $30 million into an unsecured convertible note. This brings total insider investments to $54.5 million since December 2021.
The funding aims to advance ABP-450, AEON’s proprietary botulinum toxin complex for therapeutic indications. The toxin works by blocking peripheral acetylcholine release at presynaptic cholinergic nerve terminals. Currently, AEON is testing the product’s effectiveness in treating cervical dystonia, chronic migraine and episodic migraine in Phase II clinical trials.
Core Biogenesis Win $10.5M for Environmentally Friendly Model
French biotech company Core Biogenesis completed a Series A round of financing with about $10.5 million. The primary focus of the funding will be to build an industrial-scale facility that produces growth factors and cytokines for cell therapy.
Core Biogenesis is unique because of its plant-based molecular farming platform, in which proteins from oilseed plants produce highly bioactive compounds. These compounds can be used in cell culture media components and cell therapy manufacturing without the need for animal products.
“Not only can we produce proteins at high yield and lower cost than traditional methods, but our entire production process is carbon-negative. At Core Biogenesis, we truly believe that what is good for the patient can also be good for the planet,” CSO and Co-founder Chouaib Meziadi said.
