Avenzo Therapeutics and Ensoma topped off their pools of private funding on Monday, with the former raising a $60-million series B and the latter bringing in $53 million. Oncology deal-making Avenzo's round, led by OrbiMed and SR One, comes about a year after the close of its $386-million series A/A-1, bringing its total capital to $446 million.The company was formed in 2022 by former executives of Turning Point, which was bought by Bristol Myers Squibb for $4 billion. Aveno's goal is to build a best-in-class oncology pipeline through strategic partnerships — and it's already in-licensed four assets from three separate Chinese biotechs (see – Spotlight On: China biotech's NewCo model takes centre stage).Avenzo has partnered with Allorion Therapeutics for rights to CDK2 inhibitor AVZO-021 and CDK4 inhibitor AVZO-023, and gained an EGFR/HER3 bispecific antibody-drug conjugate (ADC), AVZO-1418, from Duality Bio; all three are in Phase I testing. The biotech also has licensed a Nectin4/TROP2 bispecific ADC, AVZO-103, from VelaVigo, which is in IND-enabling studies. The fresh funds will be used to advance these programmes. New investor Longwood Fund participated in the latest financing alongside all of Avenzo's existing backers, including Foresite Capital, Lilly Asia Ventures, Surveyor Capital, New Enterprise Associates, Deep Track Capital, Sofinnova Investments, Sands Capital, INCE Capital, TF Capital, Delos Capital and Quan Capital.In vivo engineeringEnsoma got financial backing on Monday from Gilead Sciences for its in vivo hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) engineering platform, adding to a $135-million B round raised in 2023.The funds will support a Phase I/II trial of lead candidate EN-374 in patients with X-linked chronic granulomatous disease (X-CGD), a rare, genetic condition caused by CYBB gene mutations that prevent neutrophils from fighting infections. The experimental therapy uses virus-like particles to deliver payloads that engineer HSCs to drive sustained expression of a CYBB transgene in neutrophils. The capital will also be used to expand the application of Ensoma's in vivo cell therapy platform to immuno-oncology and sickle cell disease. The company also boasts a rare disease partnership with Takeda (see – Spotlight On: Pharma buys into in vivo cell therapies)."The $53-million financing reflects growing interest in our platform’s potential to address serious diseases through one-time, outpatient treatments," said CEO Jim Burns. "With a strong manufacturing foundation in place, as well, we are in a strong position to begin generating meaningful human data for our first-in-class in vivo HSC-directed therapy."Other investors in Ensoma's financing include 5AM Ventures, Catalio Capital Management, Cormorant Asset Management, Delos Capital, F-Prime, the Gates Foundation, Hanwha Impact Partners, Mirae Asset Financial Group, Qatar Investment Authority, RTW, Solasta Ventures, SymBiosis and Viking Global Investors.