Busy week at British Patient Capital as the fund subscribed series B funding for Epsilogene ($42m) and Microbiotica($67m), alongside other investors. Biotech ecosystem is celebrating too as European health-tech startups raised the most seed funds during Feb’22 ($67m), surpassing Fintech ($56m) and SaaS ($36m). Overall, UK-startups raised the largest amount. And yet, the Oxford-Cambridge Arc has been deprioritised (sic). Michael Anstey (Cambridge Innovation Capital) talked to the FT about the impact of the Arc. John McCafferty, Life Sciences Inspiration of the Year Award.

In Europe, early-stage health-tech companies secured the largest amount of funding during February 2022, totalling €67 million seed funds. Overall, UK companies raised the most seed funds (€119m), followed by Germany (€47m) and Spain (€42m).

London-based Epsilogen raised $42 million series B in a round led by Novartis Venture Fund. The round was seconded by British Patient Capital, 3B Future Health and the founding investor Epidarex Capital, among others. It will enable the company to establish clinical proof of concept for MOv18, IgE for platinum-resistance ovarian cancer, and enhance their proprietary antibody platform (IGEG).

Microbiotica raised $67 million series B. The financing round was led by Flerie Invest and Tencent, and seconded by British Patient Capital and existing investors Cambridge Innovation Capital, IP Group and Seventure Partners. The company spun out from Sanger Institute in 2016. Funding will be used to bring into Phase 1b their two lead oral Live Bacteria Therapeutics (LBTs).

UK to invest $345 million to promote life science research and manufacturing. The funds are part of the Life Science Vision program, a $1 billion program to bolster research around seven key areas (dementia, early diagnosis and treatment, vaccines, cardiovascular disease, respiratory disease, aging, and mental health).

Michael Anstey, partner at Cambridge Innovation Capital, talks to the Financial Times about Government’s decisions of deprioritising the Oxford-Cambridge Arc.

Flagship Pioneering’s latest venture: Vesalius Therapeutics. The press release is bold, and so the company mission: ‘revolutionise the treatment of the diseases that drive 90% of human illness.’ The focus will be on biologic circuits, those in which cells rely on to signal feedback loops.

Stevenage Bioscience Catalyst launched an 18-week accelerator program for biotech startups, backed by the Department of Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy, Innovate UK, Wellcome, and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK).

Orbit Discovery signed partnership with WuXi AppTec to use its downstream capabilities, becoming its first strategic technology link since Orbit formation.

Alchemab Therapeutics expanded collaboration with Medicines Discovery Catapult to investigate Alzheimer’s disease and frontotemporal dementia.

Northern Ireland-based Overwatch Research (all-in-one experimental tracking software for in vivo research) has been acquired by Benchling for an undisclosed sum.

Dr. John McCafferty, pioneer and inventor of antibody-pahge display technologies, co-founder of Maxion Therapeutics, and CSO at IONTAS, Life Sciences Inspiration of the Year Award.

F-star Therapeutics (NASDAQ: FSTX) appointed James Sandy as Chief Development Officer.

London-based Achilles Therapeutics chose Philadelphia for its first US-based research center.

AstraZeneca added extra $100 million to finish their new R&D/HQ headquarters, the Discovery Centre Cambridge(DISC).

Tropic Biosciences is hiring. Alchemab is hiring. Semarion is hiring too.

Scotland-based NuCana (Nasdaq: NCNA) discontinued the study (Ph III) of Acelarin (NUC-1031) in biliary tract cancer. The analysis showed higher response to the drug but no overall survival benefit.

The battle for myasthenia gravis (MG) therapeutic space, a rare-but-not-so-rare disease (40,000 to 60,000 people). Janssen acquired Momenta Pharmaceuticals in 2021 to get hold of its anti-FcRn antagonist nipocalimab, and is now putting together the data for FDA approval. There are already 2 commercially available drugs that can be used to treat MG, AstraZeneca’s Soliris and argenx’s Vyvgart.

China’s biotech boom: between July 2020 and July 2021, western Pharma companies signed licensing deals with Chinese biotechs for a median deal value of $900 million. There are three Chinese-discovered drugs approved in U.S. (BeiGene’s Brukinsa; Lilly/Junshi etesevimab COVID antibody (EUA); and JNJ/Legend Biotech’s Carvykti CAR-T. And it is only going to get better.

Boston Biotech Series: Evaluating the Pharmaceutical Landscape, with Dr. Michael Nedelcovych, VP of Equity Research at Cowen Inc.

Is there still a case for investing in biotech funds?  Looking into AXA Framlington Biotech

‘Cascade Untangling’, the made-in Essex paradigm change in Deep Learning.