The firm’s lead candidate has shown strong tolerability in an early-stage trial for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, sparking hopes for registration-enabling studies and a streamlined development plan.

Private Company Edition: Newpath Partners’ second fund totals $350m, Merck KGaA committed €600m to M Ventures, Eir Ventures raised €122.3m and Breakout Ventures has $112.5m. Recent financings were led by SOTIO ($317.5m), Odyssey ($218m), Avistone ($200m) and Acepodia ($109m).

The listings of two vaccine manufacturers and fundraisings by seven other biopharma ventures generate around $1.2bn in new financing for Chinese companies focusing on a broad variety of therapeutic areas and indicating continued investor interest. 

Public Company Edition: Three companies postponed or withdrew their offerings, but drug developers continue to pursue IPOs. Also, Biocon, BMS and Epizyme raised money through new debt, Five Prime capitalized on positive data and Synthetic Biologic engaged a strategic advisor.