Even as some of the pub­lic biotech com­pa­nies in its port­fo­lio bend un­der the weight of a bear mar­ket, Qim­ing Ven­ture Part­ners USA is rolling up its sleeves to build more star­tups.

The VC firm has tak­en the wraps off a $260 mil­lion third fund, dubbed US Health­care Fund III, to ex­e­cute on the same strat­e­gy as pre­vi­ous funds: in­vest in ear­ly-stage ther­a­peu­tics and health­care tech­nol­o­gy com­pa­nies in the US and the EU.

The tight-knit team — spread among San Fran­cis­co, Seat­tle and Boston — is al­so bring­ing on a new part­ner. Isaac Ciechanover, a one-time biotech en­tre­pre­neur who’s held sev­er­al ven­ture cap­i­tal gigs, will join Gary Ri­eschel, Mark Mc­Dade, An­na French and Col­in Walsh as a part­ner.

Found­ed in 2017, Qim­ing US re­mains an af­fil­i­ate of Shang­hai-based Qim­ing Ven­ture Part­ners, one of Chi­na’s ear­li­est and most promi­nent biotech VC shops.

Both new and ex­ist­ing in­vestors poured mon­ey in­to the new US fund, the firm added.

“We are in­cred­i­bly proud of the en­tre­pre­neurs and health­care in­no­va­tions we have sup­port­ed in just a few short years, and we are grate­ful for the con­tin­ued sup­port of our lim­it­ed part­ners that make this pos­si­ble,” said French in a state­ment.

Qim­ing US counts 16 ther­a­peu­tics de­vel­op­ers in its port­fo­lio, sev­en of which have gone pub­lic. Two oth­ers have been ac­quired — Ar­mo by Eli Lil­ly ($1.6 bil­lion) and Ca­dent by No­var­tis ($210 mil­lion up­front).

Amid a biotech win­ter on Nas­daq, all the pub­lic com­pa­nies, from Kezar Life Sci­ences and Jasper Ther­a­peu­tics to Hill­e­Vax and Icosavax, are now trad­ing be­low their IPO price — with the ex­cep­tion of Ven­tyx Bio­sciences.

But that’s clear­ly not de­ter­ring Qim­ing. In fact, it co-led a $75 mil­lion Se­ries A for oligonu­cleotide spe­cial­ist Cep­tur ear­li­er this year and chipped in to Nes­san Berming­ham’s Se­ries B for Ko­r­ro Bio, which came in at $116 mil­lion.

For his part, Ciechanover said he’s ready to be build­ing com­pa­nies again.

A Cel­gene BD vet, Ciechanover was a part­ner at Klein­er Perkins Cau­field & By­ers when he de­cid­ed to start the cell ther­a­py start­up Atara. But he made a sur­prise de­par­ture in 2019 and has been work­ing with Po­laris be­fore com­ing to Qim­ing.

Less than a week after HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra declared monkeypox a national health emergency, reports have emerged that the US plans to extend its vaccine supply by opting for a different route of administration.

Officials are expected to call for intradermal injection of Bavarian Nordic’s Jynneos vaccine — the only shot approved specifically for monkeypox in the US — as opposed to subcutaneous injection, unnamed sources told both the New York Times and Washington Post on Tuesday.

The FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research on Tuesday released a warning letter sent last week to Amazon CEO Andy Jassy in Seattle for selling mole removal products over-the-counter, or, as the FDA explains, “introducing, delivering, or causing the introduction or delivery into interstate commerce of products that are unapproved new drugs.”

“There are no over-the-counter (OTC) drugs that can be legally sold for mole or skin tag removal, and FDA has safety concerns about drugs marketed OTC directly to consumers for these uses,” the agency said in its Aug. 4 warning.

Riding high on positive schizophrenia data it believes has the potential to reshape the entire field, Karuna Therapeutics put out word late Monday that it’s shooting for some new cash. And execs are swinging for the fences.

The biotech announced plans Monday afternoon to raise $600 million in a public offering, with a possibility of the total rising to $690 million if all options are exercised. The move aims to capitalize on Phase III data revealed Monday morning showing Karuna’s schizophrenia program significantly reduced symptoms compared to placebo.