Fundraising: Cambridge life science cluster a honeypot for global backers

The largest raise in the period (November 1, 2023-October 16, 2024) was Bicycle Therapeutics’ $555 million Post-IPO Equity (PIPE) funding on Nasdaq which secured investment from across the US and took the total raised by the company to date over the $1bn mark.

The financing was led by a US-based healthcare-focused investor with participation from Deep Track Capital, EcoR1 Capital, Fairmount Partners, Forbion Capital Partners, Perceptive Advisors and RA Capital Management.

Bicycle is pioneering a new and differentiated class of therapeutics based on its proprietary bicyclic peptide (Bicycle®) technology. It plans to use the net proceeds to fund the continued development of its proprietary pipeline and for other R & D, as well as for general corporate purposes.

In July, AIM-listed 4basebio, which develops and commercialises the large scale manufacture of synthetic DNA as well as nanoparticle delivery solutions, raised $52.2m (£40m) Equity Issuance from Elevage Medical Technologies (a Patient Square Capital platform) and Prudential Assurance Company Limited acting by its investment manager M&G Investment Management Limited.

Elevage and M&G also agreed to buy 1,959,424 ordinary shares from entities belonging to the Deutsche Balaton Group and certain management and directors of the company for $38.4m (£29.4m). As a result of this Secondary Sale, Elevage and M&G together hold 29.9 per cent of 4basebio’s issued ordinary shares.

Elevage Medical Technologies led Nuclera’s $75 million Series C round, which is set to underpin a fresh upswing in growth for Nuclera. The cash will accelerate the commercialisation of Nuclera’s eProtein Discovery platform, to optimise protein expression and purification workflows within research labs globally.

Elevage was joined in the round by British Patient Capital, Cambridge Innovation Capital, entrepreneur Jonathan Milner, GK Goh in Singapore, M&G Catalyst, E Ink Holdings, Michael D. McCreary, Uni Power Group, and Verve Ventures.

A trio of young Cambridge life science companies – Constructive Bio, Quotient Therapeutics and T-Therapeutics – have each celebrated $50m+ funding rounds during the last 12 months.

Ahren Innovation Capital, OMX Ventures and Paladin Capital led Constructive Bio’s $58m Series A earlier this month in a round that saw Nobel Prize winner and biotech entrepreneur Sir Gregory Winter join the board as a representative of Ahren. Fine Structure Ventures, +ND Capital and Abcam-founder Jonathan Milner also participated in the raise.

Constructive Bio says it has the unique capacity to produce fully programmable molecules with unprecedented fidelity, specificity, and scalability. Through genome synthesis, the company is able to write entire custom genomes with full control of the genetic sequence and code.

Its proprietary technology is built on research carried out at the Medical Research Council’s Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge by company founder Professor Jason Chin, who in 2019 synthesised the entire genome of the bacterium E. coli – the first synthetic strain created for industrial use.

Genetics startup Quotient Therapeutics roared out of stealth late last year on both sides of the Atlantic on the wings of intellectual input from Wellcome Sanger Institute – allied to cash and brainpower from US partners Flagship Pioneering and the University of Texas Southwestern.

Quotient, co-steered by former Sanger director Sir Mike Stratton, is geared to become the fountainhead of new first-in-class drugs across a broad range of modalities and therapeutic areas, including immune disease, cardiometabolic disease, infectious disease, oncology, neurodegenerative disease, rare disease and ageing. It is co-located in Cambridge MA and Cambridge UK with research facilities in both cities.

Flagship Pioneering in Cambridge, Massachusetts, made an initial commitment of $50m to advance the development of the company’s platform – following two years of development at Flagship Labs – and to pursue a potentially blockbusting pipeline of new medicines.

Also last last year, Cambridge Innovation Capital co-led a $59m (£48m) Series A round in Cambridge University spin-out T-Therapeutics alongside Sofinnova Partners (Paris), F-Prime Capital (Cambridge, MA) and Digitalis Ventures (New York). There was participation from Sanofi Ventures and the University of Cambridge Venture Fund.

T-Therapeutics is building a portfolio of transformational TCR-based medicines for cancer, addressing the limitations of current TCR therapies which only apply to certain cancers and lack specificity, leading to significant side effects. The company will also develop medicines which address various auto-immune disorders.

The team at T-Therapeutics includes highly experienced antibody engineers and drug developers who were responsible for the creation of the Kymab and PetMedix antibody discovery platforms and pipelines among other notable discoveries, including at Adaptimmune and GSK. Professor Allan Bradley, a key player in so many powerful companies since leaving the Wellcome Sanger Institute where he was director, is CEO of T-Therapeutics.

Boston US life science company Cerevance, which has facilities at Cambridge Science Park, took its Series B round to $98m in April after securing a $47m extension.

Proceeds will support its Phase 3 clinical trial for CVN424, a first-in-class non-dopamine therapy for patients with Parkinson’s disease, plus the advancement of a pipeline of novel treatments for other CNS disorders.

The financing was led by Agent Capital, Bioluminescence Ventures, and Double Point Ventures, with participation from new investors MQB Partners and LifeRock Ventures and existing backers Gates Frontier, GV (Google Ventures) and Lightstone Ventures.

AI-enabled clinical-stage biotech company Healx raised $47m Series C cash in the summer to advance its lead program, HLX-1502, through a Phase 2 clinical trial for the treatment of neurofibromatosis Type 1 (NF1).

The latest round takes Healx’s funding haul since inception to $110m and was co-led by Silicon Valley-based R42 Group and Atomico with participation from new and existing investors including Balderton, Jonathan Milner, Global Brain, b2venture, Ayana Capital, o2h and VU Venture Partners. Stanford Medicine Adjunct Professor Ronjon Nag – founder of R42 Group – joined the Healx board.

Earlier this month, Babraham Research Campus company LoQus23 Therapeutics closed a £35m ($43m) Series A to advance its fight against Huntington’s disease. The Series A round was led by Dutch VC Forbion alongside existing investors SV Health Investors’ Dementia Discovery Fund (DDF) and Novartis Venture Fund (NVF). LoQus23 was founded in 2019 by Entrepreneurs in Residence at DDF Dr David Reynolds, Dr Caroline Benn, and Dr Ruth McKernan.

Chesterford Research Park tenant CellCentric took its funding haul past $135m in July with a fresh $35 million from RA Capital Management in Massachusetts. The funding will support the continued development of CellCentric’s oral drug inobrodib, a first-in-class p300/CBP inhibitor to treat multiple myeloma.

One of Cambridge’s biggest funding magnets, Apollo Therapeutics, took its haul to date over $450m when it added $33.5m to its Series C round at the start of 2024. The Series C was led by Patient Square Capital in California and included participation by multiple new investors including M&G plc and two of the largest US public pension plans, along with existing investors including Rock Springs Capital. Apollo is focused on establishing evidence of causal human biology for its therapeutic targets using human genetics and genetic epidemiology.

Blue chip international investors weighed into a £25.2m fundraising round for Cambridge clinical stage biotech Mission Therapeutics in March. The Babraham Research Park-based company is developing first-in-class therapeutics that enhance mitophagy to promote cell/organ health.

The financing was jointly led by existing investors Pfizer Venture Investments, Sofinnova Partners, Roche Venture Fund, SR One, IP Group, and Rosetta Capital. Mission said it planned to use the funds to accelerate development of its lead drug candidates, MTX325 and MTX652, through clinical trials. In July, Mission was also awarded $5.2m from The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research (MJFF) and Parkinson’s UK.

ViaNautis Bio, which recently relocated from Babraham to Unity Campus in Sawston, completed a $25 million Series A funding round late last year. Formerly known as SomaServe, ViaNautis secured support from a consortium of prominent global investors enabling the advancement of its proprietary drug delivery platform – polyNaut®. The round was led by 4BIO Capital, BGF and UCB Ventures with participation from the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, Eli Lilly and Company and existing investors including Origin Capital, Meltwind and o2h.

ViaNautis’s polyNaut® platform applies advanced polymer materials and in silico screening to precisely guide genetic molecules such as pDNA, mRNA, siRNA and ASOs to their intended targets.

Biofidelity, which has operations in Cambridge and North Carolina commercialising precision medicine for patients worldwide, raised $24m growth capital in Q1 2024.

The round took its haul to $60m raised since foundation in 2019 and will accelerate commercial and clinical expansion in the United States to accelerate the adoption of ASPYRE®-Lung, a novel test that dramatically simplifies and accelerates the detection of biomarkers for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The new investment will also enable the establishment of a dedicated manufacturing facility in the UK. The new funding round included fresh commitments from current investors including Agilent Technologies, Octopus Ventures, BlueYard Capital, and Longwall Ventures.

VC investors from China and Hong Kong backed the first close of a $21m Series B round for Cambridge-based Life Science company CN Bio in April. Beijing-based Bayland Capital and founding shareholder CN Innovations Holdings Ltd from Hong Kong invested $10m and $5.5m, respectively. CN Bio is delivering an ambitious expansion strategy to meet the increasing demand for its PhysioMimix® Organ-on-a-Chip (OOC) technology and research services.

Last month, Cambridge biopharma company PhoreMost added $12 million to its Series B financing, bringing the total raised to over $50m. The additional investment was led by Parkwalk Advisors with participation from existing investors BGF, Dr Jonathan Milner, Amadeus Capital and Astellas Venture Management. The haul will support the progression of PhoreMost’s pipeline of novel degrader assets. PhoreMost is focused on leveraging its SITESEEKER® target ID platform to enable novel ligase discovery.

At the start of 2024, Sano Genetics raised $11.4 million in new funding led by Plural with participation from existing investors including MMC Ventures, Episode 1 and Seedcamp.

Founded by Patrick Short (CEO), Charlotte Guzzo (COO) and William Jones (CTO), Sano Genetics is developing software to enable the precision medicine revolution. The company combines genetic testing, recruitment, and long-term engagement in one platform, accelerating enrolment and simplifying operations for precision medicine teams driving breakthroughs for patients.

In August, Microbiotica, which is developing a pipeline of oral precision microbiome medicines called live biotherapeutic products (LBPs), announced it had received undisclosed funding from existing investors giving it the financial runway to complete its clinical trials.

Microbiotica received regulatory approvals this year to initiate clinical studies for its first two programmes in advanced melanoma (MELODY-1) and ulcerative colitis (COMPOSER-1) in selected EU countries and the UK.

Seed funding

Two Cambridge life science companies have attracted sizeable amounts of seed funding this year, each attracting well in excess of $10m each.

ExpressionEdits pulled in $13m funding from backers in Berlin, California, London, Zurich and Washington, while Shift Bioscience received investment corralled from Cambridge, London, and Massachusetts in its $16m round.

European VC firms Octopus Ventures and redalpine co-led the $13 million seed funding round in ExpressionEdits, with BlueYard Capital, Wilbe Capital, Acequia Capital, Amino Collective, and Hawktail also participating.

Founded in 2021 by Dr Kärt Tomberg, Professor Allan Bradley, and Dr Liliana Antunes based on research from the University of Cambridge, the company’s proprietary intronization technology revolutionises gene design by mimicking the natural genetic landscape.

Shift Bioscience, a Cambridge biotech using generative AI models to understand how activation of different genes can reverse the ageing process, had BGF to thank for leading its recent seed round.

The company will use the proceeds to accelerate the development of its AI cell simulation platform, enabling the identification of novel genes for safe rejuvenation of cells indicated in age-related illnesses. The funding will also support the development of an IP portfolio for the novel rejuvenation genes identified by Shift. Existing investors F-Prime Capital, Kindred Capital and Abcam co-founder and serial investor Jonathan Milner also invested.

Dr Milner also participated recently in the $5.3m seed round for Cambridge-based clock.bio, a healthspan biotech working to reverse ageing. LocalGlobe led the round with participation from BlueYard Capital and Onsight Ventures.

Located at the Milner Therapeutics Institute at the University of Cambridge, clock.bio has made significant progress in decoding the biology of human rejuvenation, identifying more than 100 genes that jointly constitute an ‘Atlas of Rejuvenation Factors.’

While all somatic cells irreversibly age, stem cells have the unique ability to turn back the clock. Working with human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), clock.bio has developed a proprietary ageing model that can force stem cells to age, faithfully recreating the known cellular hallmarks of ageing. This intervention triggers a self-rejuvenation mechanism, whereby iPSCs repair these hallmarks and turn young and healthy.

Three other Cambridge life science companies have raised seed rounds in excess of $5m in the last 12 months.

IsomAb Ltd, whose registered office is at St John’s Innovation Centre in Cambridge, closed a $9.8m (£7.5m) seed round in February to accelerate its lead candidate to treat peripheral arterial disease.

The round was led by Broadview Ventures in Boston with further backing from existing investor SCVC and participation from MEIF Proof of Concept & Early Stage Fund managed by Mercia Ventures. The company told Business Weekly it was moving towards a £35m Series A in mid-2025.

IsomAb is developing isoform-specific disease modifying antibody treatments for serious and life-threatening diseases with an initial focus on peripheral ischaemia. The seed round enables the company to advance the pre-clinical development of its lead antibody, ISM-001.

CardiaTec, a TechBio company employing computational methods to decode the biology behind cardiovascular disease, raised $6.5m in seed funding led by San Francisco-based Montage Ventures with participation from Laidlaw Scholars Ventures, Apex Ventures and Continuum Health Ventures. Joining the round as individual investors were industry leaders Dr. Maximilien Levesque, CEO & co-founder of Aqemia, and Naheed Kurji – former President of Recursion Pharmaceuticals Canada and CEO & founder of Cyclica.

CardiaTec, a spin-out from the Han Lab at the University of Cambridge, leverages large multi-omics human data to better navigate complex cardiovascular disease biology to identify novel and more targeted therapeutics.

To support its approach, the company is building the first and largest proprietary human heart tissue multi-omics dataset. The company has a large and expanding network of over 65 hospitals across the US and the UK, screening patients on a 24/7 basis to support the bespoke collection of human hearts for its data generation.

Harness Therapeutics, formerly known as Transine Therapeutics, raised an extra $5.2m (£4m) from existing investors last November, taking its seed funding haul to $23m (£17.7m). Harness is backed by leading life science investors Takeda Ventures, SV Health Investors, The Dementia Discovery Fund with Epidarex Capital joining as an investor in 2022. Proceeds will be used to advance Harness’ lead Huntington’s Disease (HD) programme targeting FAN1 nuclease and to pursue target discovery and validation activities in other neurodegenerative disease pathways.

Fundraising by Cambridge life science companies in the past 12 months by deal size:

Bicycle Therapeutics
$555m PIPE (Post-IPO Equity) – June 2024
Investors: Deep Track Capital, EcoR1 Capital, Fairmount Partners, Forbion Capital Partners, Perceptive Advisors, RA Capital Management
Investor locations: Connecticut, California, Pennsylvania, New York, Massachusetts
Total raised to date: $1.1bn

4basebio
$90.6m: $52.2m (£40m) Equity Issuance and $38.4m (£29.4m) Secondary Sale – August 2024
Investors: Elevage (a Patient Square Capital platform), M&G
Investor locations: California, London

Nuclera
$75m Series C – October 2024
Lead Investor: Elevage Medical Technologies (a Patient Square Capital platform). Other: British Patient Capital, Cambridge Innovation Capital, Jonathan Milner, GK Goh, M&G Catalyst, E Ink Holdings, Michael D. McCreary, Uni Power Group, Verve Ventures
Investor locations: California, Sheffield, Cambridge, Singapore, London, Taiwan, Massachusetts, Hangzhou, Zurich)
Total raised to date: $145.8m

T-Therapeutics
$59m (£48m) Series A Round – November 2023
Lead Investors: Digitalis Ventures, F-Prime Capital, Cambridge Innovation Capital, Sofinnova Partners. Other: Sanofi Ventures, University of Cambridge Enterprise
Investor locations: New York, Massachusetts, Cambridge, Paris
Total raised to date: $59m

Constructive Bio
$58m Series A Round
Lead Investors: Ahren Innovation Capital, OMX Ventures, Paladin Capital Group. Other: Fine Structure Venture, Jonathan Milner, +ND Capital
Investor locations: Cambridge, California, Massachusetts, Illinois, Washington
Total raised to date: $72.5m

Quotient Therapeutics
$50m Launch Funding – November 2023
Investor: Flagship Pioneering
Investor location: Massachusetts
Total raised to date: $50m

Cerevance
$47m Series B-1 – April 2024
Lead Investors: Agent Capital, Bioluminescence Ventures, Double Point Ventures. Other: Gates Frontier Fund, Google Ventures (GV), LifeRock Ventures, Lightstone Ventures, MQB Partners
Investor locations: Massachusetts, California, Florida, Colorado, Wellington
Total raised to date: $189.5m

Healx
$47m Series C – August 2024
Lead Investors: Atomico, R42 Group. Other: Ayana Capital, b2venture, Balderton Capital, Global Brain Corporation, Jonathan Milner, O2h ventures, Propel(X), VU Venture Partners
Investor locations: London, California, Texas, St.Gallen, Tokyo, Cambridge
Total raised to date: $114.9m

LoQus23 Therapeutics
$43m (£35m) Series A – September 2024
Lead Investor: Forbion Capital Partners. Other: Dementia Discovery Fund, Novartis Venture Fund
Investor locations: Munich, London, Basel
Total raised to date: $60.75m

Cellcentric
$35m Venture Round - July 2024
Investor: RA Capital Management
Investor location: Massachusetts
Total raised to date: $135.6m

Apollo Therapeutics
Additional $33.5m towards Series C – January 2024
Lead Investor: Patient Square Capital. Other: Rock Springs Capital, M&G Plc
Investor locations: California, Maryland, London
Total raised to date: $450m+

Mission Therapeutics
$32.95 (£25.2m) Series D Round – March 2024
Investors: Sofinnova Partners, SR One, IP Group, Rosetta Capital, Roche Venture Fund, Pfizer Venture Investments
Investor locations: Paris, California, London, Oxford, Basel, New York
$5.2m Grant – July 2024
Investor: Michael J. Fox Foundation
Investor location: Washington
Total raised to date: $180.4m

ViaNautis Bio
$25m (£20m) Growth Capital – November 2023
Lead Investors: UCB ventures, BGF Ventures, 4BIO Capital. Other: Eli Lilly, Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, Origin capital, Meltwind Advisory, 02h Ventures
Investor locations: Massachusetts, London, Indiana, Maryland, Cambridge
Total raised to date: $28.8m

Biofidelity
$24m Venture Round – April 2024
Investors: Agilent Technologies, BlueYard Capital, Longwall Ventures, Octopus Ventures
Investor locations: California, Berlin, Oxford, London
Total raised to date: $60.6m

CN Bio
$21m Series B – April 2024
Investors: Bayland Capital, CN Innovations
Investor locations: Beijing, Hong Kong
Total raised to date: $44.5m

Shift Bioscience
$16m Seed Round – October 2024
Lead Investor: BGF. Other: F-Prime Capital, Kindred Capital, Jonathan Milner
Investor locations: London, Massachusetts, Cambridge
Total raised to date: $18m

ExpressionEdits
$13m Seed Round – June 2024
Lead Investors: Octopus Ventures, redalpine. Other: Acequia Capital, Amino Collective, BlueYard Capital, Hawktail, Wilbe Capital
Investor locations: London, Zurich, Washington, Berlin, California
Total raised to date: $13m

PhoreMost
$12m additional Series B – September 2024
Lead Investor: Parkwalk Advisors. Other: Amadeus Capital Partners, Astellas Venture Management, Business Growth Fund, Jonathan Milner
Investor locations: Cambridge, California, London
Total raised to date: $76.1m

Sano Genetics
$11.4m (£9m) Series A – January 2024
Lead Investor: Plural Platform. Other: MMC Ventures, Episode 1, Seedcamp
Investor location: London
Total raised to date: $27m

IsomAb
$9.8m (£7.5m) Seed Round – February 2024
Lead Investor: Broadview Ventures. Other: SCVC, MEIF Proof-of-Concept & Early Stage Fund
Investor locations: Massachusetts, Bristol, Warwickshire
Total raised to date: $9.8m

Qureight
$8.5m Series A Round – April 2024
Lead Investor: Hargreave Hale Aim VCT. Other: Playfair Capital, XTX Ventures, Guinness Ventures, Ascension Life Fund, Cambridge Angels, Meltwind Advisory
Investor locations: London, Cambridge
Total raised to date: $11.49m

PlaqueTec
$8.3m Venture Round – May 2024
Lead Investor: Lord Moynihan. Other: Future Fund
Investor locations: London, Sheffield
Total raised to date: $8.3m

Arecor
$8.1m (£6.2m) Growth Capital – July 2024
Total raised to date: $42.8m

Xampla
$7.19m (£5.5m) Series B – January 2024
Lead Investor: Qemetica Ventures. Other: University of Cambridge Enterprise, Amadeus Capital Partners, Horizons Ventures, Martlet Capital, Cambridge Angels
Investor locations: Warsaw, Cambridge, London
Total funding to date: $25.4m

CardiaTec Biosciences
$6.5m Seed Funding – September 2024
Lead Investor: Montage Ventures. Other: Laidlaw Scholars Ventures, Apex Ventures, Continuum Health Ventures
Investor locations: California, London, Vienna, Washington
Total raised to date: $8.2m

Owlstone Medical
$6.5m ($5m Venture Round & $1.5m Grant) – April 2024
Investor: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Investor location: Washington
Total raised to date: $139.4m

clock.bio
$5.3m Seed Round – October 2024
Lead Investor: LocalGlobe. Other: BlueYard Capital, Jonathan Milner
Investor locations: London, Berlin, Cambridge
Total raised to date: $9.3m

Harness Therapeutics
$5.2m (£4m) Seed Round – November 2023
Investor: SV Health Investors
Investor location: London
Total raised to date: $23.1m

Psyomics
$5.2m (£4m) Venture Round – June 2024
Lead Investor: Parkwalk Advisors
Investor location: Cambridge
Total raised to date: $11.5m

Metrion Biosciences
$4.8m (£3.7m) Series C – December 2023
Lead Investor: Maven Capital Partners. Other: Gresham House Ventures
Investor locations: Glasgow, London
Total funding to date: $10.1m

HutanBio
$3.9m (£3m) Seed Round – January 2024
Lead Investor: Clean Growth Fund. Other: UK Innovation & Science Seed Fund)
Investor locations: London, Birmingham
Total raised to date: $3.9m

Sparxell
$3.2m Seed Round – April 2024
Investors: Circular Innovation Fund, Earth Venture Capital, Future Communities Capital, Granatus Ventures, Joyance Partners, Katapult, L’Oreal, PDS Ventures, Snøcap
Investor locations: Montreal, Vietnam, California, Armenia, Oslo, Paris, Mumbai, Washington
Total raised to date: $3.2m

Zetta Genomics
$2.35 (£1.8m) Seed Round – February 2024
Lead Investor: We Venture Capital. Other: Nina Capital, APEX Ventures, University of Cambridge Enterprise
Investor locations: Barcelona, Vienna, Cambridge
Total raised to date: $8.1m

Neobe Therapeutics
$2.34m Seed Round – February 2024
Lead Investor: Pioneer Group. Other: 2048 Ventures, Cancer Research Horizons, Deep Science Ventures, Discovery Park Ventures
Investor locations: London, New York, Sandwich
Total raised to date: $2.34m

PartitionBio
$480k Grant – June 2024
Investor: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Investor location: Washington
Total raised to date: $480k

BioTryp Therapeutics
$391k (£300k) Pre-Seed Round – August 2024
Investors: QUBIS Innovation Fund, University of Cambridge Enterprise, Parkwalk Advisors
Investor locations: Belfast, Cambridge
Total raised to date: $391k

Microbiotica
Undisclosed Venture Round – August 2024
Lead Investor: Tencent. Other: British Patient Capital, Cambridge Innovation Capital, Flerie Invest, IP Group, Seventure Partners
Investor locations: Shenzhen, Sheffield, Cambridge, Stockholm, London, Paris
Total raised to date: $81m (£62m) excluding latest undiscl. round