The front page of AI-driven biology
Thursday, October 15, 2026Thu, Oct 15
Updated 5:32 PM PT
Healthcare investment firm OrbiMed has collected $3 billion across two vehicles, comprising over $1.9 billion for its 10th flagship private investment fund focused on North America and Europe alongside more than $1 billion for its sixth Asia-dedicated partnership.
Bain Capital Life Sciences, Forbion, and Novo Holdings co-led the Series C financing, backed by new investors Janus Henderson, SV Health Investors, and Jefferson Life Sciences alongside Alphabet-backed GV and Syncona.
Iambic Therapeutics priced its initial public offering at $16 per share to raise $150 million, selling roughly 9.4 million shares ahead of trading on the Nasdaq under ticker IAM.
Ultragenyx has monetized two rare pediatric disease priority review vouchers for a combined $413 million following two summer gene therapy approvals from the FDA.
Gilead Sciences committed $90 million upfront, comprising $65 million in cash and a $25 million equity investment at a 30% premium, to license three masked T-cell engager therapies engineered using Vir Biotechnology's PRO-XTEN platform.
Fairmount Funds led a concurrent private placement of roughly $350 million alongside the merger with the former cell-therapy developer Alaunos Therapeutics.
Juvia Group led the Series B round to advance three siRNA programmes into early clinical testing.
The Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health is directing $125 million toward building a distributed network to manufacture personalized RNA drugs.
Aspen Neuroscience has filed for an initial public offering to advance its autologous cell therapy, which transforms skin cells into dopamine-producing neurons for surgical implantation.
TRex Bio priced its Nasdaq initial public offering at $14 per share, selling 8.33 million shares to fund its pipeline of therapies that activate regulatory T cells, or immune-suppressing Tregs.
City Therapeutics set terms to raise up to $184.7 million in a Nasdaq initial public offering, yielding expected net proceeds of $158.3 million at the midpoint of its $17 to $19 price range, matching the $158 million target reported by Endpoints News.
Alphabet spin-out Isomorphic Labs is in preliminary discussions to raise external capital at a valuation of at least $40 billion, according to reporting from Bloomberg.
The Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health has funded three teams under its BioStabilization Systems program, committing up to $87 million over four years to eliminate cold-chain refrigeration for living cell products.
The computational drug design startup spun out of Google DeepMind is negotiating a fresh financing round that could value the company between $40 billion and $50 billion.
The California-based life sciences investment firm has raised its debut regional vehicle, the TCGX Asia Life Sciences Fund I, to back drug developers across Asia at multiple development stages.
The San Diego biotech plans to offer 9.4 million shares at $15 to $17 each, targeting roughly $135 million in net proceeds to fund clinical trials through 2028.
Ultragenyx has agreed to sell an FDA Rare Pediatric Disease Priority Review Voucher to an undisclosed buyer for $210 million in cash.
The Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health awarded Bexorg up to $28.3 million, reported by Endpoints News as $28 million, over a three-phase, 36-month contract.
Nextech Invest and Norwest co-led the round, joined by Sanofi Ventures, Digitalis Ventures, Invus, BB Biotech, the T1D Fund, and BOLD Longevity Growth.
Dutch venture capital firm Forbion gathered €2.3 billion across Forbion Growth Opportunities IV and Forbion Ventures Fund VIII to back up to 30 biotechnology startups.
The funding comprises a Series A round joined by OTB Ventures, In-Q-Tel, Recode Ventures, and other backers, alongside up to $20 million in non-dilutive grants from Slovakia and the European Union.
Lycia Therapeutics has filed to go public on the Nasdaq to advance its pipeline of lysosome-targeting chimeras, or LYTACs, which degrade extracellular and membrane-bound proteins.
Lux Capital and Natural Capital co-led a $251 million Series D round for Varda Space Industries, with participation from Founders Fund, Khosla Ventures, and General Catalyst.
Former Genentech artificial intelligence leaders, including New York University professor Kyunghyun Cho, have launched the health startup Ortet backed by a $500 million commitment from Matt Holt's investment firm Thoreau.
UPMC Enterprises and Ziff Capital Partners co-led the $48 million launch round for ai3Bio, formed by combining autoimmune assets from Corner Therapeutics with University of Pittsburgh spinout Novasenta.
The Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority committed an initial $18.5 million to advance SCY-247, an oral and intravenous antifungal candidate, into a Phase 2 trial for invasive fungal infections.
ADARx Pharmaceuticals raised $446.3 million in gross proceeds, reported as $446 million by Fierce Biotech, by pricing an upsized offering of 26.3 million shares at $17 each alongside a separate $100 million private placement from AbbVie.
The U.S. Department of War has awarded venture creator Flagship Pioneering a five-year, $47 million contract to build medical countermeasures against emerging biological and chemical threats.
The funding supports clinical expansion for two lead oral small molecules, including mid-stage trials of ENV-294 in atopic dermatitis and asthma after early data showed an 85% symptom reduction by Day 42.
San Diego-based Iambic Therapeutics filed for an initial public offering with the US Securities and Exchange Commission to advance its pipeline of AI-designed small molecules.