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Entrepreneurs Aim to Improve Antibody-Drug Combinations
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By Brian Gormely, WSJ Pro
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Good day. Venture capitalists continue to back companies seeking to make a powerful form of cancer therapy even more potent, providing €60 million ($63 million) to startup Tubulis GmbH.
Treatments known as antibody-drug conjugates are designed to make cancer therapy safer and more effective. They use an antibody to direct a cancer drug directly to the tumor. The goal is to concentrate the drug’s effect on cancer cells and minimize its impact on healthy ones.
Existing ADCs include Tivdak, a cervical-cancer treatment developed by drugmakers Seagen Inc. and Genmab A/S. Tivdak received accelerated Food and Drug Administration approval in September.
Entrepreneurs see opportunity to improve existing methods of developing antibody-drug combinations, such as through technology to reduce the likelihood that the drug is released prematurely, causing healthy cells to be killed.
In December startup Mythic Therapeutics said it had raised $103 million in new financing to develop antibody-drug conjugates designed to be safer and more potent than current antibody-drug treatments. German biotech startup Tubulis says its technology also could improve upon current approaches. Tubulis, for example, says its innovations could enable the cancer drug to be more effectively delivered to tumors without affecting healthy cells.
Tubulis plans to use this Series B financing, led by Andera Partners, to move its initial treatments toward clinical trials.
And now on to the news...
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Credit Image: © Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via ZUMA Press
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The NFT market is collapsing. The sale of nonfungible tokens, or NFTs, fell to a daily average of about 19,000 this week, a 92% decline from a peak of about 225,000 in September, according to the data website NonFungible, WSJ reports.
The number of active wallets in the NFT market fell 88% to about 14,000 last week from a high of 119,000 in November. NFTs are bitcoin-like digital tokens that act like a certificate of ownership that live on a blockchain.
Rising interest rates have crushed risky bets across the financial markets—and NFTs are among the most speculative. Since hitting highs in November, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite has fallen 23% and bitcoin has fallen by 43%.
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3%
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The bond rout hit a new milestone Monday, with the yield on the 10-year Treasury reaching 3% for the first time since late 2018.
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Cerebral’s Preferred Pharmacy Truepill Halts Adderall Prescriptions for All Customers
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Online pharmacy company Truepill Inc. said it is temporarily halting prescriptions for Adderall and other controlled substances used to treat attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, and partner Cerebral Inc. told its clinicians to direct those orders to patients’ local pharmacies, The Wall Street Journal reports. Cerebral, an online mental-health company based in San Francisco that describes Truepill as its preferred pharmacy, informed its clinicians of Truepill’s decision in a Friday email viewed by the Journal. The email said Truepill would no longer support mailing Schedule 2 controlled substances, including Adderall and Vyvanse, “to any of their customers.” Truepill said that, “out
of an abundance of caution,” it is temporarily pausing all fulfillment of Schedule 2 substances while it evaluates appropriate next steps.
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Catalio Capital Amasses $381 Million for Third Biomedical Fund
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Biomedical specialist Catalio Capital Management, which spun out of Camden Partners in 2020, has raised $381 million for its second independent fund, outpacing a $300 million target, WSJ Pro reports. Catalio Nexus Fund III LP is more than three times as large as its predecessor, which closed on $100 million in 2020. The New York firm raised $15 million from family offices for its debut fund while still part of Baltimore-based Camden. As of the end of last year, the firm said it had $680 million in regulatory assets under management and now says it manages more than $1 billion. Catalio has deployed almost $350 million across 45 companies in the past 18 months, including co-investments by
investors in the second fund, George Petrocheilos, a managing partner and co-founder of Catalio, said.
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Record Fertilizer Prices Drive Investors, Farmers to Microbes
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PHOTO: DAN BROUILLETTE FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
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Startups marketing alternative crop fertilizers said they are gaining traction among U.S. farmers and investors, pitching themselves as a potentially cheaper option as prices for traditional fertilizers surge, WSJ reports. Companies such as Pivot Bio, Kula Bio and Anuvia are pushing development of farm fertilizers by harnessing microbes or plant-based products to deliver nutrients that corn and other crops need.
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Funds
Home-improvement retailer Home Depot launched a $150 million venture-capital fund. To date, Home Depot Ventures has invested in Internet of Things platform Afero, freight technology startup Loadsmart, bathroom-renovation platform Made Renovation and same-day delivery provider Roadie.
Pacific Northwest investor Trilogy Equity Partners closed its second fund with $150 million in commitments. The Bellevue, Wash.-based firm’s portfolio includes Remitly, Skilljar, Boundless Immigration and Educative.
Boston-based Cybernetix Ventures said $25 million has been committed to its debut fund, which has a target of $50 million. The new vehicle will invest in early-stage robotics, automation and artificial-intelligence companies.
Sheva, a new $50 million venture-capital fund, has launched to make $1 million to $2 million pre-seed to Series A investments in 20 startups. The firm, which began operating earlier this year, was co-founded by former NBA player Omri Casspi and former Global Founders Capital Partner David Citron. Sheva has so far invested across the fintech, cybersecurity and Web3 sectors.
People
San Francisco-based Piva Capital, which backs companies addressing industrial challenges, promoted Maria Buitron to principal. Prior to joining the firm in 2019, Ms. Buitron was part of the business-development team at Stem Inc.
Thrasio Holdings Inc., an acquirer of Amazon FBA brands, said Greg Greeley will take over as chief executive in August, succeeding Carlos Cashman. During the past 18 months, Mr. Greeley served as president and chief operating officer of Opentrons.
Exits
Publicly-traded ZoomInfo acquired Comparably, a recruitment-marketing and employer-branding platform, for an undisclosed amount. Comparably is listed in the portfolios of firms including Upfront Ventures, Crosscut Ventures and Alpha Edison.
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LinearB Inc., a Los Angeles- and Tel Aviv-based developer of workflow-optimization software, scored a $50 million Series B round led by Tribe Capital. New investor Salesforce Ventures also participated in the funding, along with previous backers Battery Ventures and 83North. Sri Pangulur, partner at Tribe Capital, will join the company’s board.
AutoRABIT, a San Francisco-based startup providing developer tools for the Salesforce ecosystem, picked up a $26 million Series B investment from Full In Partners.
Concerto, an Austin, Texas-based developer of credit-card loyalty programs for brands, secured a $21 million investment. Led by Matrix Partners, the round included contributions from PayPal Ventures and GoldenTree Asset Management.
Accern, a New York-based developer of a no-code AI platform, closed a $20 million Series B round. Co-lead investors Mighty Capital and Fusion Fund were joined by Tribe Capital, Viaduct Ventures, Shasta Ventures and Gaingels in the funding.
Toplyne, a San Francisco-based startup helping companies monetize product-led growth, grabbed $15 million in Series A funding. Tiger Global Management and Sequoia Capital India co-led the round, which included support from Together Fund.
Federated Wireless, an Arlington, Va.-based shared spectrum services provider, added $14 million in Series D funding, bringing the round total to $72 million. Affiliates of Fortress Investment Group, Giantleap Capital, LightShed Ventures and GIC provided the new tranche.
Switchboard, a cloud coworking space, emerged from stealth with a $13.8 million investment from Sequoia Capital, XYZ, Spark Capital, Cleo Capital and others.
Better Agency, an automation platform for insurance agents, snagged an $8 million Series A investment led by Teamworthy Ventures.
Ownwell Inc., which helps commercial and residential property owners save money on property taxes, was seeded with a $5.8 million investment. First Round Capital led the round, which included contributions from Wonder Ventures, Founder Collective and Long Journey Ventures.
Kahoona Inc., a San Diego- and Tel Aviv-based data generation and activation platform for the open web, nabbed $4.5 million in seed funding led by Global Founders Capital.
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BetMGM on display at MGM National Harbor in Oxon Hill, Md.
PHOTO: SHANNON FINNEY/GETTY IMAGES FOR MGM NATIONAL HARBOR
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