caption Moderna Therapeutics CEO Stephane Bancel source CNBC screenshot Biotech unicorn Moderna Therapeutics, which is valued at more than $7.5 billion, may file for an initial public offering as early as this winter, according to STAT news. The company has reportedly hired banks including Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, and Morgan Stanley to help it with its debut on Wall Street. Moderna develops mRNA-based therapeutics and vaccines, 10 of which are currently in the clinical pipeline. It has disclosed strategic relationships with AstraZeneca, Merck, and Vertex Pharmaceuticals. Moderna Therapeutics may file for an initial public offering as early as this winter, STAT news reported earlier this week. The Cambridge-based biotech unicorn was founded in 2010 and now has a valuation of more than $7.5 billion. Additionally, Moderna has reportedly hired banks including Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, and Morgan Stanley to help it gear up for its stock debut. Moderna … [Read more...] about Moderna Therapeutics, a biotech unicorn valued at more than $7.5 billion, could be gearing up for an IPO as early as this winter
Biotech
A company that calls itself the ‘Flatiron Health of rare diseases’ and is backed by Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates, and Jeff Bezos just raised $3 million
caption RDMD co-founders Nancy Yu and Onno Faber. source RDMD RDMD is a platform for data sharing between patients with rare diseases, doctors, and researchers. The company announced on Monday it har raised $3 million in seed funding led by Lux Capital and Village Global, whose network of backers include Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, and Reid Hoffman. When Onno Faber was diagnosed in 2014 with a rare disease called neurofibromatosis type 2 that creates tumors in the central nervous system, he blindly combed through the Internet for treatment options before a friend who was doing genetic research suggested a potential clinical trial. He soon realized there had to be a better way. Faber then teamed up with former 23andMe executive Nancy Yu to found RDMD, a platform that works with patients, top experts and foundations to collect patient data on their history and symptoms. These records help patients share their data with doctors, get second … [Read more...] about A company that calls itself the ‘Flatiron Health of rare diseases’ and is backed by Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates, and Jeff Bezos just raised $3 million
Akouos, a biotech startup that’s trying to tackle a $750 billion global problem, just announced it’s raised a new funding round
source Shutterstock Boston-based biotech startup Akouos is the first of its kind to use gene therapy to tackle genetic-based hearing disorders. The company announced $50 million in Series A funding on Tuesday. The funding will help Akouos advance its first program into human trials, support its pipeline for therapies, and build out both its team and its platform. Akouos is a new biotech startup that’s trying to address a $750 billion problem: hearing loss. Manny Simons, co-founder and CEO of Akouos, spent his college and grad school years figuring out the biology of the ear and how to deliver drugs to the right parts of the ear. His interests drew him to his now co-founders at Massachusetts Eye and Ear about 15 years ago. The Boston-based company announced on Tuesday that it raised $50 million in its Series A funding round. It was co-led by Seed investors 5AM Ventures and New Enterprise Associates (NEA), followed by Partners Innovation Fund, … [Read more...] about Akouos, a biotech startup that’s trying to tackle a $750 billion global problem, just announced it’s raised a new funding round
Ovid Therapeutics shares fall 28% as investors question new drug data
source Markets Insider New York-based biotech company Ovid Therapeutics announced on Monday positive phase 2 trial results for its treatment for a rare disease called Angelman Syndrome. Its stock, however, was down 28% following the announcement. Shares of Ovid Therapeutics fell 28% on Monday, after investors questioned the efficacy of phase 2 data from a new drug used to treat a rare disease called Angelman Syndrome. The drug showed a favorable safety profile and was tolerated in adults and adolescents with the disease, which is a rare and lifelong genetic disorder that affects 1 in 15,000 people in the US. Those afflicted by Angelman show severe impairment in behavior, learning, verbal communication, motor skills, and sleep, and there are no FDA-approved drugs or an established treatment for it yet. The drug, OV101, targets an underlying neurological dysfunction of the disease which results in communication problems between the brain’s neurons. The … [Read more...] about Ovid Therapeutics shares fall 28% as investors question new drug data
$12 billion Samumed, which wants to cure baldness and smooth out your wrinkles, just raised even more funding as it plots IPO
caption Samumed CEO Osman Kibar, CFO Cevdet Samikoglu, and chief medical officer Yusuf Yazici source Diana Yukari/Business Insider; photos courtesy Samumed Samumed, a San Diego-based biotech is one of the highest valued healthcare startups in the US with a $12 billion valuation. On Monday, the company raised an additional $438 million, bringing its total funding to $650 million. The company is working on treatments to regenerate everything from hair to cartilage. Samumed, a private biotech that’s racked up the heady valuation of $12 billion, just raised an additional $438 million at that valuation. The company is developing a pipeline of what could be revolutionary treatments to regenerate hair, skin, bones, and joints. The funding will be used to move those treatments further along in development and potentially to approval. “We are now in a fortunate position to both move our later stage programs to commercialization, as well as expand on our … [Read more...] about $12 billion Samumed, which wants to cure baldness and smooth out your wrinkles, just raised even more funding as it plots IPO