Boston Scientific aims to acquire Lumenis’ global surgical laser business, through a $1.07 billion deal that will incorporate its systems for ear, nose and throat procedures and its Moses laser treatment for breaking apart kidney stones.
(Pixabay)
Sofinnova Partners has pulled in a healthy €445 million ($540 million) in its latest capital raise as the European venture capital firm seeks out late-stage plays in biotech and medtech.
The fund was “oversubscribed and significantly exceeded its target,” the Paris-based firm said, and with this latest cash boost it s set to continue its focus on European clinical-stage companies “needing scale-up capital” while also supporting “best-in-class companies” in the U.S. and elsewhere.
It did, not however, detail any particular targets it was going after. Other VC firms have said in a COVID-19 world they would focus more on conditions such as infectious diseases and other neglected R&D areas.
Mar 3, 2021 2:00pm A team led by scientists at China Medical University successfully targeted a section of the IL-17RB protein to shrink tumors in mice with pancreatic cancer. (By Manu5 (http://www.scientificanimations.com/wiki-images/) [CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], via Wikimedia Commons)
Pancreatic cancer is highly aggressive, and it s typically diagnosed late, resulting in few effective treatment options. Researchers led by China Medical University have found a possible way to inhibit this deadly tumor by targeting a molecular loophole in a cancer-promoting protein.
The protein is interleukin-17 receptor B (IL-17RB), and the team discovered that a small piece of synthetic peptide placed on the flexible loop region of the protein could impede its pro-cancer signaling. In a mouse model of pancreatic cancer, the peptide reduced tumor metastases and extended survival.
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It’s been a relatively quiet few years for FogPharma, at least publicly, but now the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based biotech is revealing a major funding round.
The series C has been pumped up to $107 million from a who’s who of venture capitalists. The round was led by venBio Partners with help from new investors Cormorant Asset Management, Farallon Capital Management, Invus, funds and accounts advised by T. Rowe Price Associates Inc., HBM Healthcare Investments, Casdin Capital and PagsGroup.
Existing investors also chipped in, including Google’s GV, 6 Dimensions Capital, Deerfield Management and Blue Pool Capital.
What has them opening their checkbooks? FogPharma’s platform direct beta-catenin antagonist and universal druggability platform. Out of this has come its lead program, a beta-catenin antagonist designed to treat previously undruggable cancers.
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