The biggest private biotech investments in April 2023

Image/Anastasiia Slynko
biotech investments

April 2023 saw the companies Orbital Therapeutics, Sangon Biotech, and Alentis Therapeutics bag the biggest biotech investments of the month. Around the world, oncology, drug discovery, food and biomaterials attracted the biggest funding rounds.

With reports of venture capital investments in biotech and pharma hitting a more than three-year low last quarter, private biotech fundraising in April 2023 lacked a large amount of big funding rounds. However, there were still some noteworthy investments that took place around the world. 

We’ve gathered the biggest biotech investments that went to private companies around the world in April. The companies have been split into healthcare and industrial biotechnology-focused verticals.

Healthcare investments in April 2023

Orbital Therapeutics bagged $270 million in a series A round in the U.S.’ biggest private biotech healthcare investment of the month. The company is working on expanding the applicability of RNA-based medicines across a range of diseases and is building a first-in-kind RNA platform that integrates established and emerging RNA technologies and delivery mechanisms.

The top European biotech healthcare investment went to Swiss company Alentis Therapeutics. A series C round saw them raise $105 million to support phase 1 and 2 trials of its lead investigational products ALE.C04 and ALE.F02, for the treatment of cancer and organ fibrosis, as well as its claudin-1 (CLDN1) platform development.

In the Asia-Pacific region, China’s Alebund Pharmaceuticals received $29.3 million in a pre-series C round. The company is discovering and developing a pipeline of therapies to treat renal diseases, with their lead drug candidates focusing on hyperphosphatemia.  

In close second, another Chinese company, Zephyrm Biotechnologies, managed to raise $29 million in a series B financing to support phase 1 and 2 trials of its human pluripotent stem cell candidates for lung diseases, degenerative joint diseases, central nervous system (CNS) diseases, and more.

Other life sciences investments in April 2023

Outside of the healthcare sector, biotech companies raised big investments to advance research into food, biomaterials and agriculture.  

In this space, the U.S.’ biggest investment round went to precision livestock company Vytelle. It raised $20 million in series B funding to accelerate genetic progress in cattle by delivering accessible, reliable and predictable reproductive technology to customers.

Meanwhile, in Europe, the biggest round went to German company AMSilk, which raised $27 million in a series C extension round, bringing its total to $59 million. The company has a bio-fabrication platform based on silk proteins and produces bio-fabricated materials to be used across a variety of applications, such as textile fibers, medical devices and consumer goods.

The Asia-Pacific region didn’t see many private biotech investment deals outside of healthcare. The one notable investment went to Sangon Biotech, which raised an impressive $290.3 million in private equity to expand talent recruitment and increase R&D investment. The company leverages technologies including DNA synthesis and gene sequencing to develop a portfolio of products.

May’s highlights

May 2023 has already kicked off with a couple of notable funding rounds for private biotech companies. For example, Initial Therapeutics launched with $75 million of series A funding on the first day of the month to create a new kind of drug designed to stop the formation of difficult-to-drug protein targets. 

Meanwhile, Convergent Therapeutics, which is focused on the development of next-generation radiopharmaceuticals to treat cancer, just announced the completion of a $90 million series A round.

Explore other topics: Fundinginvestment

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