Plus, news about Oricell, Biohaven, Apellis, Sino Biopharmaceutical and Juvena:
👨💻 VantAI gets $80M seed round, rebrands to Proxima:
The Roivant-founded company is still preclinical but
working on
“proximity-based therapeutics,” which it says includes drugs like molecular glues and PROTACs. The first program, currently undisclosed, is expected to enter the clinic this year. —
Max Gelman
💼 Dynavax shares details on search for buyer:
The vaccine maker, which was acquired by Sanofi for
$2.2 billion
last year, revealed that it was previously in
discussions
with a different “publicly traded biotechnology company.” Dynavax and that other company, referred to only as “Party A,” had first contact in October 2023 and signed a mutual confidentiality agreement in April 2024. In February 2025, Party A said it would submit an acquisition proposal, only to later say it was reconsidering the deal due to “recent trading dynamics” and then pull back in April. —
Ayisha Sharma
💵 Oricell puts together $70M fundraise:
The China-based biotech
described
the round as a “Series C1” financing. Oricell is attempting to develop CAR-T therapies that can be used in solid tumors, a difficult area that has seen no approvals so far. Its lead program, Ori-C101, is being tested for a form of liver cancer called advanced hepatocellular carcinoma. Oricell said it’s “entering the registrational pivotal trial” after completing Phase 1. —
Max Gelman
💊 Biohaven reports open-label epilepsy data:
The majority of focal onset epilepsy patients treated with 75 mg of Biohaven’s opakalim
saw
at least a 50% reduction in seizure frequency from baseline. The results came from an open-label extension study that included patients from two Phase 2/3 trials. Registrational results from opakalim are expected later this year. —
Ayisha Sharma
📉 Syfovre sales dip in 2025:
Apellis’ geographic atrophy drug Syfovre generated about 4% lower sales in 2025, at $587 million compared to the $612 million reported for the year prior, according to the company’s preliminary
report
on Monday. —
Anna Brown
🤝 Sino Biopharmaceutical acquires Hangzhou Hygieia Biomedical:
The deal will see Sino
pay
1.2 billion Chinese yuan to buy out Hygieia, or roughly $172 million. Hygieia is developing siRNA compounds for cardiovascular and metabolic diseases. —
Max Gelman
💰 Juvena closes $33.5M Series B:
Juvena
said
the money will be used to advance its lead drugs, including JUV-161, which is being tested for myotonic dystrophy type 1 and sarcopenia. Eli Lilly participated in the round after agreeing to a research agreement with the biotech last June. —
Max Gelman
