In Vivo's Top Financing Of 2017: Cast Your Vote!
Executive Summary
It's time for In Vivo's 10th annual Deals of the Year contest. We've selected 15 nominees in three categories – Top Alliance, Top Financing and Top M&A – and you get to pick the winners. (It's free.)
In Vivo's editors have scoured our Deals Of The Month columns and have selected our top five picks for the most significant financing of 2017. Click the link at the bottom of this page to vote for your favorite.
Homology's Series B: Homology Medicines, which uses homologous recombination to circumvent the challenges of other gene-editing technologies, raised $83.5 million in a Series B financing round led by Deerfield Management. Proceeds will go toward advancing its lead candidate (currently in preclinical IND-enabling studies for an inborn error of metabolism disease) and to support continued work on its AMEnDR platform. [See Deal]
Pfizer Spins Off SpringWorks: September was rife with biopharma spin-offs including SpringWorks Therapeutics, which launched from Pfizer with four clinical-stage assets targeting diseases with no good cures. It concurrently raised $103 million in Series A venture capital from the big pharma as well as Bain Capital Life Sciences, Bain Capital Double Impact, Orbimed and LifeArc. Pfizer wants SpringWorks to be a future licensee of additional drugs from other large companies and from academic institutions. [See Deal]
Silk Road Gets More Money For Stroke Prevention: Silk Road Medical raised $47 million to commercialize its TransCarotid Artery Revascularization ENROUTE platform, neuroprotection devices implanted into the carotid arteries through an incision in the neck, rather than inserted transfemorally. The stroke prevention products are 510(k)-cleared and CE-marked, and reimbursement is in place for TCAR procedures. New investors Norwest Venture Partners and funds managed by Janus Capital Management led the round. [See Deal]
Biohaven Pharma's IPO: After pulling in $100 million in Series A money in short order, orphan neurological disease start-up Biohaven Pharmaceuticals netted $180 million in its initial public offering. It was the third-largest biotech IPO of 2017, behind Idorsia Pharmaceuticals and Alnylam Pharmaceuticals. Biohaven's IP comes from Yale, Mass General and Rutgers, and its pipeline includes candidates licensed from AstraZeneca and Bristol-Myers Squibb. [See Deal]
Gilead Gets Third Priority Review Voucher: Sarepta Therapeutics has sold the priority review voucher it received upon approval of its Duchenne muscular dystrophy treatment Exondys 51 to Gilead Sciences for $125 million. The money will go toward supporting Sarepta's development of additional exon skipping candidates and enhancement of its antisense platform. The voucher purchase is Gilead's third, but the price is a dramatic drop from recent sales. [See Deal]