Follow the Money: Lymphatic System Platform, Endovascular Device System, Generative AI For Small Molecule Therapies, More

$290M: Launch of Next-Gen Obesity and Metabolic Diseases Medicine Company 

Metsera has raised $290 million in financing led by ARCH Venture Partners with participation from other leading healthcare investors including F-Prime Capital, GV, Mubadala Capital, Newpath Partners, SoftBank Vision Fund 2, and other undisclosed investors. Founded by Population Health Partners and ARCH Venture Partners and led by former executives of The Medicines Company, Metsera is rapidly advancing a broad portfolio of oral and injectable incretin, nonincretin, and combination therapies designed with best-in-class profiles to address multiple targets and meet the future needs of a rapidly evolving weight loss treatment landscape. Metsera’s portfolio of next-generation injectable and oral development programs is sourced from the company’s proprietary library of over 20,000 gut hormone peptides and peptide/antibody conjugates. Development programs include parallel strategies and are focused on multiple next-generation targets and combinations.

$160.5M: Series C for Tumor-Infiltrating Lymphocyte Program for Cancer 

Obsidian Therapeutics has closed a significantly oversubscribed $160.5 million Series C financing with a top-tier syndicate of life science investors led by new investor, Wellington Management. Additional new investors participating in the financing include Foresite Capital, Janus Henderson Investors, Novo Holdings A/S, Paradigm BioCapital, RTW Investments, funds and accounts advised by T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc., and Woodline Partners LP. Proceeds from the financing will advance Obsidian’s lead engineered tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL) program, OBX-115, in its ongoing trials for patients with melanoma and non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The company is focused on enrolling patients and reaching key clinical and regulatory milestones, as well as manufacturing scale-up ahead of pivotal trial readiness.

$158M: Series B for Development of Novel Oncology Biologics 

TORL BioTherapeutics announced its public launch and the closing of a $158 million Series B financing. TORL's pipeline of antibody-drug conjugates and monoclonal antibodies were discovered in the laboratory of scientific co-founder Dennis Slamon, M.D., Ph.D., Professor of Medicine and Chief of the Division of Hematology/Oncology at UCLA's David Geffen School of Medicine. TORL is built on a strategic partnership with the Slamon Research Lab at UCLA, whereby the company has exclusive development and commercial rights to biologics-based drug candidates focused on promising cancer targets. Since its inception in 2018, TORL has moved forward three, internally developed drug programs into the clinic and advanced two more through IND-enabling studies with less than $50 million.

$100M: Series A for Novel Neuropsychiatric Medicines 

Seaport Therapeutics has closed a $100 million oversubscribed Series A financing round co-led by ARCH Venture Partners and Sofinnova Investments along with Third Rock Ventures and Seaport founder PureTech Health. Seaport also announced the appointment of Daphne Zohar as Founder, Chief Executive Officer and a member of the Board of Directors, and Steven M. Paul, M.D., as Founder and Chair of the Board of Directors. The financing will support the rapid advancement of Seaport’s clinical-stage pipeline of first and best-in-class medicines as well as further development of the Glyph platform, which leverages the lymphatic system to create new medicines building on clinically validated mechanisms and has demonstrated clinical proof-of-concept.

$96M: Series D for Acceleration of Phase II/III Trial of Endovascular System 

Nectero Medical has closed its $96 million Series D financing round. Financing was led by Norwest Venture Partners, with large investments from Boston Scientific Corporation, BioStar Capital, Cadence Healthcare Ventures, Aphelion Capital and other firms. Proceeds will be utilized to accelerate the execution of the Phase II/III (stAAAble) trial and to support the submission of a New Drug Application with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the Nectero Endovascular Aneurysm Stabilization Treatment (Nectero EAST) System. The Nectero EAST System is an investigational, single-use, endovascular system that delivers pentagalloyl glucose locally into the aneurysmal wall, where it binds to elastin and collagen to strengthen the aortic vessel wall and to potentially reduce further degradation. The procedure takes less than an hour to complete and leaves no permanent implant behind.

$55M: Series C for Novel T Cell Program 

Asher Biotherapeutics announced the closing of a Series C financing, which raised $55 million. The financing was led by RA Capital Management and included new investors AstraZeneca and Bristol Myers Squibb, along with existing investors Janus Henderson Investors, Third Rock Ventures, Wellington Management and Boxer Capital and other undisclosed institutional investors. Asher Bio plans to use the proceeds from this financing to advance the clinical development of its lead program, AB248, a novel CD8+ T cell selective IL-2, generated by fusing a reduced potency IL-2 mutein to an anti-CD8β antibody.  AB248 was specifically engineered to selectively and potently activate CD8+ T-cells, while avoiding natural killer cells, which can act as a pharmacological sink and contribute to toxicity, and regulatory T (Treg) cells, which are immunosuppressive.

$24.6M: Series A-1 for Generative AI for Small Molecule Discovery  

DeepCure announced the closing of a $24.6 million Series A-1 financing led by IAG Capital Partners (IAG) with participation from the company’s current investors. DeepCure has raised more than $72 million in financing since its inception. Proceeds from the Series A-1 financing will be used to further develop DeepCure’s cutting-edge technology, and to advance its immunology and inflammation pipeline towards clinical trials. DeepCure has built a generative AI and physics-based engine to innovate the discovery of small molecule therapies for challenging targets. The engine can map potential interaction sites on the surface of proteins, and design novel, synthesizable molecules with lead-like properties.

$17.5M: Series B Extension for AI Software Solutions 

Dot Compliance has raised $17.5 million in Series B extension funding, marking a significant up-round. The new round of financing was co-led by existing investors IGP Capital and Vertex Ventures, with participation from TPY Capital, and brings total funding to $50 million to date. Dot Compliance will use the proceeds to accelerate its AI software solutions, drive continued product innovation and customer acquisition, meet escalating market demand for AI-driven solutions that help life sciences organizations improve quality management, and meet dynamic compliance requirements.

$14M: AI Algorithms for Patient Enrollment in Clinical Trials 

Nucleai has secured a $14 million investment led by M Ventures, the corporate venture capital arm of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, and supported by existing investors, bringing the total funding to $60 million. The investment enables Nucleai to further deploy its AI algorithms for the prospective enrollment of patients in clinical trials—a first in the field and an advancement in personalized solutions tailored to the distinct needs of patients. It will also accelerate the deployment of Nucleai’s spatial analysis technology that transforms a static biopsy slide into a dynamic AI-guided action plan, empowering pathologists with the intelligence to anticipate and navigate complex diseases, like cancer, with unmatched precision.

$10M: Series A for Respiratory Molecular Diagnostics 

Biotech startup Kryptos Biotechnologies has raised $10 million in Series A financing led by Osang Healthcare, a leading medical device company based out of South Korea that specializes in diagnostic biosensors and diagnostic assays—to further develop Kryptos’s flagship point-of-care molecular diagnostics system Kuick. The funding will help advance the clinical study of the respiratory combo tests, which in turn will help receive FDA approval by 2025. Along with the financing, the company has entered a strategic partnership with Osang Healthcare for the manufacturing and distribution of its product.

$2.5M: Seed Funding for Securing Generative AI for Entreprises 

Security and risk management startup SydeLabs announced their seed funding round of $2.5 million to build solutions aimed at securing GenAI systems for enterprises. The funding round was led by RTP Global and saw participation from Picus Capital and marquee angel investors. The company offers solutions to identify security and safety vulnerabilities in enterprise AI systems and prevent them in real time, helping mitigate cybersecurity attacks and abuse. Founded by Ruchir Patwa and Ankita Kumari, SydeLabs’ mission is to make AI applications safe, secure, and resistant to abuse.