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Arialys Therapeutics Tackles Rare Disease With Venture Financing
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By Brian Gormley, WSJ Pro
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Good day. Biotechnology startup Arialys Therapeutics has raised $58 million in a bid to be the first to gain regulatory approval for a drug designed to treat a rare and potentially fatal neurological disease that causes cognitive and behavioral symptoms.
San Diego-based Arialys is developing a therapy for anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis, or inflammation in the brain. This condition leads to symptoms such as seizures, confusion and memory loss, according to the Encephalitis Society.
It occurs because antibodies from the patient’s immune system, termed autoantibodies, attack NMDA receptors in the brain, which help control thoughts, moods and movements.
Current treatments include medications to suppress the immune system, such as steroids. Most patients have a good recovery if they receive prompt diagnosis and treatment, but relapses occur up to 25% of the time, according to the Anti NMDA Receptor Encephalitis Foundation.
Instead of suppressing the immune system, Arialys’s drug is designed to block the autoantibodies. In an animal model of the disease, this approach reversed encephalitis and behavioral symptoms, according to Arialys.
Arialys expects to start clinical trials in healthy volunteers in 2024 and studies of the drug in patients with the disease in 2025, said Jay Lichter, chief executive of Arialys and managing partner of Arialys investor Avalon BioVentures.
And now on to the news...
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Biotech workers in Hefei, China. The value of biotech venture deals in mainland China that included U.S. investors fell from over $1 billion in 2021 to $102.6 million last year.
PHOTO: CHINA DAILY/VIA REUTERS
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China. Venture capitalists from the U.S. and other countries have reduced investment in Chinese drugmakers, denting momentum in China’s developing biotechnology industry.
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The retreat reflects a global pullback in venture funding as well as China’s faltering economy and rising geopolitical tensions. “China biotech had as big or bigger of a biotech bubble than we had in the U.S., and that is in the process of deflating,” said Les Funtleyder, healthcare portfolio manager for E Squared Capital Management.
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Biotech venture investment in China rose from $1.2 billion in 2015 to $19.3 billion in 2021, then fell to $8.9 billion last year, according to market tracker PitchBook Data.
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U.S. investors helped fuel the rise, and their pullback has contributed to the fall. The value of biotech venture deals in China that included U.S. investors climbed from $54.6 million in 2015 to $1.01 billion in 2021, then slid to $102.6 million last year, according to PitchBook.
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Artificial Wombs for Premature Babies Are a Step Closer to Reality
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The first artificial womb to gestate a human baby is fast approaching reality, The Wall Street Journal reports. Food and Drug Administration regulators will weigh next week how scientists should conduct the first human tests of bag-like wombs, meant to nurture babies born so premature that modern medicine struggles to keep them healthy. The agency plans to meet with outside advisers and discuss behind closed doors what it called “confidential commercial information,” citing a federal law that allows nonpublic meetings to discuss trade secrets. The agency hasn’t disclosed which company’s work will be discussed.
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California Pension Hires Sapphire Partners for Venture Funds
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California State Teachers’ Retirement System hired Sapphire Partners to manage the pension system’s investment program for early-stage venture capital that has a diversity mandate. Sapphire will manage five venture funds with about $1.4 billion in assets under management into which CalSTRS previously invested. It will also make new investments. Sapphire said it expects to invest about $100 million annually into emerging venture managers. Emerging venture firms, those that raised four venture funds or fewer, accounted for 19.1% of all capital raised by venture funds in the first half of 2023, according to the PitchBook-NVCA Venture Monitor. That proportion has been declining since 2019, when emerging funds accounted for 43.2% of all capital raised.
—Yuliya Chernova
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People
Flagship Pioneering appointed Amanda Kay as senior partner and chief business development officer. She was previously CBO and head of finance at Deep Genomics.
Maverick Ventures appointed Lexi Henkel as its newest principal, focusing on early-stage healthcare and technology investments. She was previously on the founding team of TMRW Life Sciences.
Protaryx Medical, a Baltimore-based medical device startup focusing on structural heart interventions, appointed David Mester as chief executive officer. He previously held leadership roles at Sequoia Medical, Xeltis, Gore Medical, CarboMedics and ViVitro Labs.
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Generate:Biomedicines, a Somerville, Mass.-based biotechnology company using generative artificial intelligence to discover protein drugs, scored $273 million in Series C funding from investors including NVentures, March Capital, Flagship Pioneering and others.
Rome Therapeutics, a Boston-based startup harnessing the power of the dark genome to develop breakthrough medicines for a range of serious diseases, added $72 million in Series B funding, bringing the round total to $149 million. Investors included Johnson & Johnson Innovation - JJDC, GV, Section 32 and Andreessen Horowitz.
Actio Biosciences, a San Diego-based biotechnology startup leveraging a novel platform approach to genetics and precision medicine, completed a $55 million Series A round co-led by Canaan and Droia Ventures.
Sonex Health, an Eagan, Minn.-based startup providing ultrasound-guided therapies to treat common orthopedic conditions affecting the extremities, closed a $40 million Series B round led by KCK MedTech.
Sempre Health, a San Francisco-headquartered behavior-based healthcare pricing startup, picked up a $20 million investment from Cencora Ventures, Echo Health Ventures and others.
BlueWhale Bio, a Philadelphia-based cell and gene therapy manufacturing startup, was seeded with an $18 million investment led by Danaher Ventures.
Bold, a Los Angeles-based startup offering personalized exercise programs for older adults, raised $17 million in Series A funding. Rethink Impact led the round, with Founder and Managing Partner Jenny Abramson joining the company’s board.
Scala Biodesign, a Tel Aviv-based startup whose technology improves and speeds up the development of proteins into biotech products, emerged from stealth with $5.5 million in seed funding led by TLV Partners.
Gem Health, a digital specialty care clinic, landed a seed round led by HealthTrend Capital, bringing the total to date raised by the company to over $5 million.
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Phenylephrine is an ingredient in many oral decongestants. PHOTO: JEFFREY GREENBERG/EDUCATION IMAGES/UNIVERSAL IMAGES GROUP/GETTY IMAGES
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Moderna CEO shares new vision (Endpoints News)
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FDA proposes changes to key approval pathway for medical devices (STAT)
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CPAP maker reaches $479 million settlement on breathing device defects (New York Times)
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CDC panel debates who should get latest Covid vaccine (Medscape)
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Addiction treatment programs for families struggle to stay open (KFF Health News)
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