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On April 21, 2021 Centessa Pharmaceuticals reported that it is aiming for the public markets (Press release, Centessa Pharmaceuticals, APR 21, 2021, View Source [SID1234578396]). The company filed on Wednesday to raise up to $100 million in its Nasdaq IPO, but, if recent deals are any indication, it will likely rake in considerably more.

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The news comes a month after chief scientific officer, Moncef Slaoui, M.D., departed the company amidst allegations of sexual assault at his former employer, GlaxoSmithKline.

The proceeds will fund several clinical trials that are already underway, including a phase 3 safety study for lixivaptan, a treatment for autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease, and a phase 2a study for SerpinC, a treatment for the blood disorders hemophilia A and B, the company said in a securities filing.

RELATED: GSK cuts ties with Slaoui over sexual harassment allegations as CEO Walmsley vows to rename R&D site

The funds will also bankroll future clinical trials, including a pivotal phase 3 trial for lixivaptan; a phase 1 study for ZF887, a treatment for the genetic disorder alpha-1-antitrypsin deficiency, which can cause liver and lung disease; and a phase 2 study for imgatuzumab, an anti-EGFR antibody for the treatment of cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma, the second most common form of skin cancer.

Centessa will also invest in its discovery, manufacturing and R&D capabilities, as well as the design and execution of preclinical and clinical studies for its earlier-stage pipeline. And the capital could go toward acquiring and developing yet more programs, according to the securities filing.

The company came out of the shadows in February, having acquired 11 biotech companies and raised $250 million in series A funding. Its goal was to create an asset-centric drug developer without the R&D inefficiencies that strike "classical pharmaceutical companies," in the words of co-founder Francesco De Rubertis, Ph.D., a partner at Medicxi and chairman of Centessa’s board of directors.

The companies that merged to become Centessa continue to develop their assets under the leadership of the Centessa team and with access to centralized resources such as manufacturing, regulatory and operational support as well as capital.

RELATED: Slaoui’s Centessa adds ex-FDA commish Califf, biotech bigwigs to its board

"This approach encourages an environment where scientific teams are incentivized to maintain an unwavering focus on advancing medicines to key go/no-go inflection points based on data-driven decisions," said Centessa CEO Saurabh Saha, M.D., Ph.D., previously senior vice president of R&D and global head of translational medicine at BMS.

Centessa started out with Saha at the helm and Slaoui, the former co-leader of the U.S. government’s Operation Warp Speed effort and longtime GlaxoSmithKline executive, as chief scientific officer. But Slaoui’s tenure at the new biotech was short-lived. Barely a month after Centessa’s launch, his former employer cut ties with him following allegations from an employee of sexual harassment that occurred several years ago at GSK. A day later, he stepped down from his role at Centessa.

On April 21, 2021 Versant Ventures reported $950 million in additional capital allocated across a platform of three separate vehicles (Press release, Versant Ventures, APR 21, 2021, View Source [SID1234578394]). These included Versant Venture Capital VIII, a $560 million primary global biotech fund; Versant Voyageurs II, a $140 million booster fund; and Versant Vantage II, a $250 million later-stage opportunity fund.

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All three funds exceeded their initial targets and were heavily oversubscribed. The capital from existing investors and a select number of new top-tier limited partners will support Versant’s highly successful biotech investment strategy and portfolio construction model.

Versant Venture Capital VIII – primary global biotech fund

Fund VIII closed at $560 million and will be allocated to 20 or more biotechnology start-ups in the U.S., Canada and Europe. These newcos will be focused on translating breakthrough innovation into the next generation of therapeutics targeting the most important unmet medical needs. The emphasis will be placed on building sustainable companies that follow business models with dual paths to liquidity.

The fund will be deployed by the same team and will follow the same investment strategy that is consistently producing outlier returns. More specifically, Versant’s three predecessor funds are currently demonstrating top decile performance across the venture industry.

"The pace of scientific discovery and technology development in the healthcare sector continues to accelerate, including advances in engineering new cell and gene therapies, developing the next generation of antibodies and therapeutic proteins, and even conceiving novel small molecule constructs for previously intractable targets in the human proteome," said Brad Bolzon, Ph.D., chairman and managing director of Versant. "These innovations are at the heart of our investment model."

Versant expects the majority of Fund VIII portfolio companies to be created de novo by working directly with talented entrepreneurs or through the firm’s existing Discovery Engines that support about 60 scientists working in wet labs across North America and Europe.

Versant Voyageurs II – strategic booster fund

Versant Voyageurs II closed at $140 million and will co-invest with Fund VIII in a select number of Series A opportunities that show early potential to be breakout companies.

"During the course of constructing any given portfolio, we inevitably generate a select number of deals showing exceptional potential from the outset," said Dr. Bolzon. "In these circumstances, we now have the ability to access additional Versant capital beyond our typical Series A investment allocations to increase momentum."

Rather than extend Versant’s main fund and jeopardize reserves planned for other valuable portfolio companies, the Voyageurs II capital will be available to participate alongside those specific Series A rounds. Thus, Voyageurs II will serve as a booster fund for a handful of select deals.

Versant Vantage II – strategic opportunity fund

Versant Vantage II closed at $250 million and will primarily invest in Series B or later rounds of existing Versant portfolio companies that are nearing a liquidity event.

The remit of Vantage II is similar to its predecessor fund, Versant Vantage I, which was designed to provide later-stage investment opportunities in portfolio companies believed to be within 12 months of an exit.

"Vantage I launched in March 2019 and has exceeded expectations. Of the fund’s 15 later-stage commitments, there already are 11 liquid companies with an average time to IPO or M&A event of about six months," noted Dr. Bolzon. "We expect similar outcomes from Vantage II, which already has a deep lineup of potential Versant companies in which to invest."

Managing directors leading investments for the new funds include Dr. Bolzon, Jerel Davis, Ph.D., Alex Mayweg, Ph.D., Clare Ozawa, Ph.D., and Tom Woiwode, Ph.D.

On April 21, 2021 NeuBase Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: NBSE) ("NeuBase"), a biotechnology company accelerating the genetic revolution with a new class of precision genetic medicines, reported that it has commenced an underwritten public offering of shares of common stock (Press release, NeuBase Therapeutics, APR 21, 2021, View Source [SID1234578365]). The offering is subject to market and other conditions, and there can be no assurance as to whether or when the offering may be completed or as to the actual size or terms of the offering. In addition, NeuBase intends to grant the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 15% of the shares of common stock sold in the public offering on the same terms and conditions. All of the shares of common stock in the offering will be sold by NeuBase.

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RBC Capital Markets, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. and Chardan are acting as the joint book-running managers for the offering, and National Securities Corp. is acting as a co-manager.

NeuBase intends to use the net proceeds from the offering for general corporate purposes, working capital and development of its product candidates and pipeline expansion.

The securities described above will be offered by NeuBase pursuant to an effective "shelf" registration statement on Form S-3 (File No. 333-254980) previously filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") on April 1, 2021 and declared effective by the SEC on April 14, 2021. The securities may be offered only by means of a prospectus. A preliminary prospectus supplement and the accompanying prospectus relating to and describing the offering will be filed with the SEC. Electronic copies of the preliminary prospectus supplement and the accompanying prospectus may be obtained by visiting the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov or by contacting RBC Capital Markets, Attention: Equity Syndicate, 200 Vesey Street, 8th Floor, New York, NY 10281, or by telephone at (877) 822-4089 or by e-mail at [email protected], Oppenheimer & Co. Inc., Attention: Syndicate Prospectus Department, 85 Broad Street, 26th Floor, New York, NY 10004, or by telephone at (212) 667-8055 or by e-mail at [email protected], or Chardan, 17 State Street, 21st floor, New York, New York 10004, by telephone at (646) 465-9032 or by e-mail at [email protected].

This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to the registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or jurisdiction.

On April 21, 2021 PerkinElmer, Inc., a global leader committed to innovating for a healthier world, reported that it is serving as a provider and co-developer of assays, instrument solutions and expertise for the PROXIDRUGS Consortium which is zeroing in on research for proximity drugs or PROTACs (PROteolysis Targeting Chimeras) (Press release, PerkinElmer, APR 21, 2021, View Source [SID1234578345]). PROTACs are a new class of drugs that take advantage of the body’s own cell protein recycling system to fight disease by tapping into the 80% of disease-relevant proteins that are currently untargeted by today’s available therapeutics. Led by Goethe University in Frankfurt, Germany, the Consortium includes researchers from the Technical University of Darmstadt, the Fraunhofer Institute for Translational Medicine and Pharmacology, and global pharmaceutical companies based in Frankfurt’s Rhine-Main region.

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The research project, starting October 2021, aims to streamline novel drug target validation by putting disease-relevant proteins in close proximity with key enzymes (such as E3 ligases) so that they can be marked for destruction and recycled by the cells’ natural shredding capabilities.

To help in these efforts, PerkinElmer will provide the consortium with no-wash AlphaLISA and HTRF immunoassay technologies and expertise in protein labeling as well as assay design; EnVision multimode plate readers; high content imaging technologies such as the Opera Phenix and Operetta CLS platforms; and data analysis and informatics tools like TIBCO Spotfire software. These PerkinElmer offerings will give PROXIDRUGS scientists a highly sensitive and accelerated discovery platform with rich data delivery and high throughput for both live and dead cell research.

Commenting on this groundbreaking research and collaboration, Alan Fletcher, SVP of Life Sciences at PerkinElmer said, "With only 20% of disease-relevant proteins currently being targeted by classical, small molecule drugs, new research approaches, such as PROTAC drug discovery, hold immense and exciting potential. We are delighted to be able to contribute our expertise and technologies to assist in the innovative work of the PROXIDRUGS Consortium as it seeks new ways to help unlock and tackle the vast majority of proteins behind widespread diseases such as cancer, neurological disorders, and cardiovascular, inflammatory and infectious conditions."

The PROXIDRUGS consortium is led by Ivan Đikić of Goethe University Frankfurt who also commented on the importance of forming alliances across organizations to help advance novel drug discovery and development, "Successful translation of biomedical research requires strong collaboration and convergence of industry and academic expertise. Our work with PerkinElmer within the PROXIDRUGS consortium is a good example of that. PerkinElmer’s expertise and innovation in assay development is of utmost importance and will help to create new insights for our discovery efforts."

The PROXIDRUGS Consortium was recently selected for funding by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research as part of a highly competitive "Clusters4Future" competition.