Private Company Edition: Scrip spoke with DDF US partner Jonathan Behr about the convergence of emerging science, venture capital investment and rising big pharma interest in neurodegeneration. Also, in recent VC financings HotSpot raised $100m, while Curie and Ablaze debuted with $75m each. 

The response rate, with five complete responses, exceeds known responses to standard-of-care chemotherapy in heavily pre-treated folate receptor alpha-high patients. A US FDA filing is on track for early 2022.

Private Company Edition: Recent VC financings across biopharma sectors include three major mega-rounds as Generate Biomedicines bringing in $370m, followed by $250m for Acelyrin and $125m for Chroma Medicine. Also, Treadwell raised a $91m series B and Ncardia brought in $60m-plus.

Dozens of health care-focused special purpose acquisition corporations have gone public during the past two years but many biopharma firms that have merged with SPACs have not performed well to date, raising the question of how long the SPAC boom will last.

Public Company Edition: SVB Leerink predicts a rebound from an ongoing trough in biotech stock valuations during the second quarter of 2022. Also, Vaxxinity launched the third US IPO of November, bringing the year’s total to 102 and BridgeBio led recent financings with a $750m debt agreement. 

The FDA will take three more months to review mavacamten, a treatment for hypertrophic cardiomyopathy that BMS expects to be one of the company’s next blockbusters.