Good day. New treatments for multiple myeloma have converted this type of blood cancer from a death sentence to a disease some people can live with for many years. But patients can still run out of options—a gap biotechnology company CellCentric seeks to fill after raising $220 million in a Series D financing.

Multiple myeloma occurs as diseased plasma cells—white blood cells that make antibodies—crowd out normal cells in the bone marrow. New therapies include those that harness the patient’s own immune cells, known as T cells.

T-cell engagers, for example, bind to both T cells and cancer cells. These treatments include Pfizer’s Elrexfio and Johnson and Johnson’s Talvey, which both received U.S. regulatory approval in 2023.

CellCentric’s experimental medicine could become an option for patients who can’t tolerate or no longer respond to T-cell engagers. The oral drug disrupts a protein complex to stop the expression of the cancer proteins MYC and IRF4, according to co-founder and Chief Executive Will West.

This round, led by Venrock Healthcare Capital Partners, will fund late-stage clinical trials. The company, which also sees potential for the drug in other types of cancer, may consider an initial public offering in 2027, according to West.

The financing gives CellCentric a $760 million post-money valuation and brings its total venture backing to more than $400 million, West said.

“Drug discovery and development is not cheap,” he added.

And now on to the news...

New fund for a new age. Wisdom Ventures, whose team includes a Buddhist teacher and former U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy, has raised $77.7 million to fund startups it sees as using AI virtuously to promote health, wellness and mindfulness. Wisdom seeks to combine positive impact with financial returns and says it rejects deals if the team doesn’t think a startup can deliver both.  

• Wisdom set out in early 2025 to raise $50 million for its new fund, holding a first closing in May of that year. It held a final closing on May 1 of this year. Limited partners include institutions and individuals, such as LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman and Jen Rubio, co-founder and executive chair of luggage company Away.
   
• With its unusual thesis, Mill Valley, Calif.-based Wisdom has won spots in funding rounds of AI companies OpenAI and Anthropic.

Bayer said it agreed to buy Perfuse Therapeutics for up to $2.45 billion, snapping up an eye-drug specialist that is developing a potential glaucoma treatment in the company’s biggest deal in years. The German pharmaceutical-and-agricultural group said Wednesday that the acquisition of San Francisco-based Perfuse would complement its drug pipeline and leverage its ophthalmology footprint. Eye drug Eylea was the top-selling product at Bayer’s pharma business last year, but the medicine is now facing pricing pressures after it went off patent.

• Perfuse’s lead drug candidate is an experimental treatment for glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy currently being tested in mid-stage clinical trials, Bayer said.
   
• It has the potential to become one of the first disease-modifying treatments for both conditions, the company added.

China’s DeepSeek is raising money from government-backed investors, aligning the artificial-intelligence startup with Beijing’s push for technology self-sufficiency. Some prospective investors have valued DeepSeek at around $50 billion in recent talks, people familiar with the matter said. China’s National Artificial Intelligence Industry Investment Fund, a one-year-old government-backed fund with around $8.8 billion in capital, is in advanced talks to invest in the round in Chinese yuan, people familiar with the matter said.

People

Healthcare-focused Arboretum Ventures promoted Jeff Terrell to managing partner. He joined the firm last year from Hatteras Venture Partners.

Turbett Surgical, a manufacturer of mobile sterilization pods and consumable filters for surgical equipment, appointed Kevin Danahy as president and chief executive officer. He was most recently at Pulse Biosciences.

GC Therapeutics, a startup focusing on cell therapy-based medicines, appointed Stefan Irion as chief scientific officer and named co-founder Alex Ng as chief innovation officer. Irion joins the company from BlueRock Therapeutics.

Windward Bio, a Switzerland-based biotechnology startup developing treatments for people living with serious immunological conditions, picked up a $165 million investment from investors including OrbiMed, Novo Holdings and RA Capital Management.

Cytospire Therapeutics, a U.K.-based startup developing immune cell engager antibodies, completed a £61 million ($83 million) Series A round. Led by 4BIO Capital, the funding included participation from Servier Ventures, Sound Bioventures and others.

Kanvas Biosciences, a Princeton, N.J.-headquartered startup building a microbiome drug screening, discovery and manufacturing platform, nabbed $48 million in Series A funding. DCVC and Lions Capital co-led the round, which saw participation from Germin8 Ventures, Pangaea Ventures and Ki Tua Fund.

Latus Bio, a gene therapy startup, added $43 million in Series A extension funding led by 8VC, bringing the round total to $97 million. The company has offices in Boston and Philadelphia.

LTZ Therapeutics, a startup focusing on the development of novel therapies for oncology and autoimmune diseases, collected a $38 million investment led by GL Ventures. The company has offices in Redwood City, Calif. and China.

Enzo Health, a Lehi, Utah-headquartered platform for home health and post-acute care, landed $20 million in Series A funding. Led by N47, the round included additional support from Gradient and Tandem Ventures.

Dandelion Health, a New York-headquartered clinical intelligence platform, grabbed $14 million in Series A funding led by Healthier Capital.

Signadori Bio, a Paris-based startup developing a monocyte immunotherapy platform to treat solid tumours, raised €11.1 million (about $13 million) in seed funding from investors including Sofinnova Partners.

Village, a Los Angeles-based startup building a healthcare system for pediatric developmental care, secured a $9.5 million investment. Upfront Ventures led the financing, which included contributions from Bling Capital, GTMFund and Perceptive Ventures.

Rosarium Health, a Houston-headquartered home-based care platform for seniors, was seeded with a $6 million investment. Kalos Ventures led the round, with Kate Ballinger joining the company’s board.

Modicus Prime, an Austin-based developer of AI compliance software for pharmaceutical organizations, added $4.5 million in new funding led by Frist Cressey Ventures.

MSICS Pharma, an Israeli platform for the cultivation and manufacturing of medical-grade botanical psilocybin, snagged $3.6 million in funding from investors including Fusion VC, GlenRock Israel and Gooday Investments.

• Human-to-Human Transmission of Hantavirus May Have Occurred on Cruise Ship

• The Quest to Use AI to Help Find New Drug
   
• UnitedHealth to Make It Easier for Patients to Get a Range of Procedures
   
• RFK Jr. Wants to Wean Some Americans Off Antidepressants
   
• Young Men Are Going to Extremes to Feel Like They Measure Up
   
• Don’t Get Too Comfortable. Your Quality of Life Depends On It.

• Top lawmaker takes aim at doctor lobby, linking AMA’s billing codes to fraud fight (STAT)
   
• Foggy brain? Maybe it’s your gut (New York Times)
   
• With $97 million, Latus pursues a different kind of Huntington’s gene therapy (BioPharma Dive)

This newsletter was compiled by Brian Gormley, Matthew Strozier and Zachary Cole. 

Share your tips, comments and questions: vcnews@wsj.com

The team: Matthew Strozier, Yuliya Chernova, and Brian Gormley.

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