Venrock joins the biotech VC fundraising game, tossing $447M into a $4.3B pot of new money

Bong Koh and Nimish Shah (Venrock)

April 22, 2020 04:34 PM EDT

Venrock joins the biotech VC fundraising game, tossing $447M into a $4.3B pot of new money

John Carroll

Editor & Founder

It’s not unusual to find the partners at Venrock traveling in the A-list section of biotech. They like to find some of the more mature startups headed toward IPOs or some new arrivals on the public market — sticking with deep-pocket investors looking to do big things. And they clearly have a big appetite for rounds that can range up into the stratosphere.

It looks like they’re going to remain in that neighborhood for some time to come.

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M&A: a critical driver for sustainable top-line growth in healthcare

Andrew Callaway

Global Head, Healthcare Investment Banking, RBC Capital Markets

2021 saw a record $600B in healthcare M&A activity. In 2022, there is an anticipated slowdown in activity, however, M&A prospects remain strong in the medium to long-term. What are future growth drivers for the healthcare sector? Where might we see innovations that drive M&A? RBC’s Andrew Callaway, Global Head, Healthcare Investment Banking discusses with Vito Sperduto, Global Co-Head, M&A.

June 25, 2022 06:00 AM EDT

Weekly

15 LGBTQ leaders in biopharma; Paul Stoffels’ Galapagos revamp; AstraZeneca catches up in ATTR; and more

Amber Tong

Senior Editor

Welcome back to Endpoints Weekly, your review of the week’s top biopharma headlines. Want this in your inbox every Saturday morning? Current Endpoints readers can visit their reader profile to add Endpoints Weekly. New to Endpoints? Sign up here.

A return to in-person conferences also marks a return to on-the-ground reporting. My colleagues Beth Synder Bulik and Nicole DeFeudis were on-site at Cannes Lions, bringing live coverage of pharma’s presence at the ad festival — accompanied by photos from Clara Bui, our virtual producer, that bring you right to the scene. You can find a recap (and links to all the stories) below.

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Abortion-rights protesters regroup and protest following Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. (AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe)

June 24, 2022 12:28 PM EDTUpdated 01:33 PM

Law

Following SCOTUS decision to overturn abortion protections, AG Garland says states can't ban the abortion pill

Zachary Brennan

Senior Editor

Following the Supreme Court’s historic decision on Friday to overturn Americans’ constitutional right to an abortion after almost 50 years, Attorney General Merrick Garland sought to somewhat reassure women that states will not be able to ban the prescription drug sometimes used for abortions.

Following the decision, the New England Journal of Medicine also published an editorial strongly condemning the reversal, saying it “serves American families poorly, putting their health, safety, finances, and futures at risk.”

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ImmunityBio

Dunkirk, NY, USA

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AstraZeneca's new Evusheld direct to consumer campaign aims to reach more immunocompromised patients.

June 23, 2022 11:53 AM EDT

Pharma

Marketing

AstraZeneca debuts first consumer campaign for its Covid-19 prophylactic Evusheld — and a first for EUA drugs

Beth Snyder Bulik

Senior Editor

AstraZeneca’s first consumer ad for Evusheld is also a first for drugs that have been granted emergency use authorizations during the pandemic.

The first DTC ad for a medicine under emergency approval, the Evusheld campaign launching this week aims to raise awareness among immunocompromised patients — and spur more use.

Evusheld nabbed emergency authorization in December, however, despite millions of immunocompromised people looking for a solution and now more widespread availability of the drug.

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Yong Dai, Frontera Therapeutics CEO

June 24, 2022 08:09 AM EDTUpdated 09:29 AM

Scoop: Little-known OrbiMed-backed biotech closes $160M round to start gene therapy trial

Kyle LaHucik

Associate Editor

Frontera Therapeutics, a China and US biotech, has closed a $160 million Series B and received regulatory clearance to test its first gene therapy stateside, Endpoints News has learned.

Led by the largest shareholder, OrbiMed, the biotech has secured $195 million total since its September 2019 founding, according to an email reviewed by Endpoints. The lead AAV gene therapy program is for an undisclosed rare eye disease, according to the source.

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Spanish Prime Minister Pédro Sanchez and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)

June 23, 2022 01:03 PM EDTUpdated 03:38 PM

Financing

Manufacturing

EU to launch vaccine development and manufacturing partnership with Latin American and Caribbean countries

Tyler Patchen

News Reporter

While European companies, including BioNTech, are focused on increasing vaccine access to African countries by setting up vaccine manufacturing facilities, the European Union is looking westward to Latin America and the Caribbean.

Speaking at a press conference with Spanish Prime Minister Pédro Sanchez, EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said that the EU is launching a new initiative for vaccines and medicines manufacturing in Latin America, to get drugs to Latin America and the Caribbean faster.

DEM BioPharma CEO David Donabedian (L) and executive chair Jan Skvarka

June 23, 2022 06:14 AM EDTUpdated 07:18 AM

Financing

Startups

Longwood sets another 'don't eat me' biotech into gear with help of former Trillium CEO Jan Skvarka

Kyle LaHucik

Associate Editor

Jonathan Weissman and team are out with a cancer-fighting biotech riding the appetite for those so-called “don’t eat me” and “eat me” signals.

The scientific co-founder — alongside fellow Whitehead Institute colleague Kipp Weiskopf and Stanford biologist Michael Bassik — has launched DEM BioPharma with incubator Longwood Fund and a crop of other investors.

In all, the nascent, 10-employee biotech has $70 million to bankroll hematology- and solid tumor-based programs, including a lead asset that could enter human trials in two to three years, CEO David Donabedian told Endpoints News.

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Product Sales Manager

ImmunityBio

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June 25, 2022 09:00 AM EDT

R&D

GSK says its drug for chronic hep B could ‘lead to a functional cure’ — but will it be alone or in combination?

Lei Lei Wu

News Reporter

GSK, newly branded and soon-to-be demerged, shared interim results from its Phase II trial on its chronic hepatitis B treatment, one that it says has the “potential to lead to a functional cure.”

At a presentation at the EASL International Liver Congress, GSK shared that in around 450 patients who received its hep B drug bepirovirsen for 24 weeks, just under 30% had hepatitis B surface antigen and viral DNA levels that were too low to detect.

June 24, 2022 01:57 PM EDTUpdated 02:14 PM

Pharma

Despite a slow start to the year for deals, PwC predicts a flurry of activity coming up

Nicole DeFeudis

Editor

Despite whispers of a busy year for M&A, deal activity in the pharma space is actually down 30% on a semi-annualized basis, according to PwC’s latest report on deal activity. But don’t rule out larger deals in the second half of the year, the consultants said.

PwC pharmaceutical and life sciences consulting solutions leader Glenn Hunzinger expects to see Big Pharma companies picking up earlier stage companies to try and fill pipeline gaps ahead of a slew of big patent cliffs. Though a bear market continues to maul the biotech sector, Hunzinger said recent deals indicate that pharma companies are still paying above current trading prices.