A new year means a new Fierce Biotech Fundraising Tracker to record the significant amounts of venture capital being funneled into the industry.
We're maintaining the criteria we used for last year's tracker, which means including financing rounds north of $50 million. Of course, we'll still profile innovative new companies and larger rounds in-depth, while we focus more coverage on clinical trial results, M&A and special reports.
January
Jan. 7—Aviceda Therapeutics
Series: C
Amount: $207.5 million
Investors: Co-led by Omega Funds and TCGX, with participation from Enavate Sciences, Jeito Capital, Blue Owl Healthcare Opportunities, Longitude Capital, OrbiMed, Logos Capital, Marshall Wace, Catalio Capital Management, funds managed by abrdn Inc., and Digitalis Ventures.
Aviceda will use the proceeds to advance AVD-104, the firm’s intravitreal glycan-coated nanoparticle currently undergoing a phase 2b/3 trial comparing the candidate to Astellas’ approved eye drug Izervay for geographic atrophy, a degenerative eye condition. Twelve-month data from the study are due in the second half of 2025, while a phase 2 trial in diabetic macular edema kicked off in September. Story
Jan. 7—Alebund Pharmaceutical
Series: C
Amount: RMB 550 million (about $75 million)
Investors: Unnamed healthcare fund, Yangzhou Guojin Investment Group and Kingray Capital.
The China-based biotech's new funds will support development and potential commercial activities of its renal disease pipeline. The raise will support the firm's Chinese new drug application and global pivotal study for its iron-based phosphate binder AP301, as well as a phase 2 study for other asset AP306 and further commercial expansion of Roche's Mircera in China, which Alebund is heading up. Release
Jan. 7—XyloCor Therapeutics
Series: B
Amount: $67.5 million
Investors: New investor Jeito Capital and existing institutional investors EQT, Fountain Healthcare Partners and Lumira Ventures.
XyloCor has closed a series B financing that will go toward the biotech's mission of developing gene therapies for cardiovascular disease. Specifically, the new funds will be used to support a phase 2b clinical trial assessing XC001 (encoberminogene rezmadenovec), in refractory angina, as well as a second mid-stage study of the candidate as an adjunctive treatment for coronary artery bypass graft surgery. Release
Jan. 6—Orbis Medicines
Series: A
Amount: €90 million (About $93.4 million)
Investors: NEA (New Enterprise Associates), Eli Lilly, Cormorant, the Export and Investment Fund of Denmark, and founding investors Novo Holdings and Forbion.
Danish biotech Orbis has closed its first series financing, money that will be used for oral macrocycle drug discovery. The biotech has also tapped Morten Graugaard to lead as CEO after three years of serving as executive chair of Orbis' board of directors. Graugaard is a Novo Holdings partner with more than 20 years of experience in the life sciences. Under his leadership, the biotech will work to develop oral macrocycles—a drug class that has historically been difficult to create oral versions of—as alternatives to blockbuster drugs. Release