Every day, Global University Venturing rounds up the smaller investments from across the university innovation ecosystem in its deal net.
Prospection, an Australia-based medical data analytics services provider, has received A$10m ($6.7m) in a round featuring national research institute Csiro’s venture firm Main Sequence Ventures and Horizons Ventures, the Sydney Morning Herald reported yesterday. Prospection evaluates patient data for medical research purposes using predictive analytics and machine learning, at present working alongside 50 clients in Australia. The funding will aid Prospection’s international expansion and recruitment plans, while also driving technology development around its core machine learning system and support for more pharmaceutical subtypes. Prospection grew from multi-university-backed incubator Cicada Innovations in 2012 but does not appear to have disclosed funding details since then.
InhaTarget Therapeutics, a Belgium-based lung cancer treatment spinout of Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB), has obtained €5.6m ($6.1m) in a round featuring Sambrinvest and multiple private investors, RTBF has reported. The funding is expected to give InhaTarget a runway of at least three years to progress commercialisation of its inhaler-administered drugs for pulmonary diseases, including a dry powder form of the existing chemotherapy cisplatin intended to treat lung cancer. InhaTarget was formed in 2018 to advance technology from ULB’s pharmacy and biopharmacy lab pioneered by the company’s chief scientific officer, Rémi Rosière, during his post-PhD research.
Luxana Biotech, a Japan-based drug developer, has extended its series A round to ¥650m ($5.9m) with contributions from university venture fund Osaka University Venture Capital (OUVC) in addition to chemicals production group Nissan Chemical Industries, pharmaceutical R&D firm Summit Pharmaceuticals International and Mizuho Capital and Senshu Ikeda Capital – venture capital units allied to financial services firms Mizuho Bank and Senshu Ikeda Bank respectively. Luxana Biotech will put the funding towards industry and academic research collaborations to uncover potential candidates using its nucleic acid-based drug discovery technology. OUVC was described as a “lead investor” during Luxana Biotech’s formation, but further details could not be ascertained.
Acuva Technologies, a Canada-based water purification technology spinout of University of British Columbia (UBC), has completed a C$5.4m ($4.1m) series B round featuring undisclosed existing and new investors, BetaKit reported on Monday. The funds will go to bolstering Acuva’s headcount both in Canada and internationally in response to projected demand for its ultraviolet light-emitting diode-powered water purification products, which employ short-wavelength radiation to destroy microorganisms harboured within water by disturbing their nucleic acid structure. Acuva attracted $755,000 from government-backed research organisation Genome British Columbia in September 2019, after a $2.1m series A round in early 2018 featuring assorted angel investors. Entrepreneurship@UBC Seed Fund, a philanthropic vehicle managed by the university’s accelerator, helped close Acuva’s $850,000 seed round in 2016, investing alongside BDC Capital, the investment arm of state-owned financial institution Business Development Bank of Canada, and various angel investors.
ARMR Systems, a US-based wound treatment device developer, has obtained $750,000 in a seed round incorporating a $350,000 joint commitment from University of Maryland, Baltimore and University of Maryland System’s Maryland Momentum Fund, Technical.ly reported on Monday. The round was filled out by Tamiami Angel Fund. ARMR Systems was founded in 2017 and its wearable tourniquet helps control blood haemorrhaging in wounded soldiers, thought responsible for 90% of preventable military deaths. ARMR will invest the seed money to recruit team members and increase manufacturing, looking toward medical regulatory clearance from the US Food and Drug Administration. The company previously obtained $100,000 from public-private seed fund Tedco in March 2018.
OncoMyx Therapeutics, a US-based cancer immunotherapy spinout of Arizona State University (ASU), has been formally licensed following a $25m series A round with undisclosed investors in June 2019. The company has commercialisation rights through ASU’s tech transfer office, Skysong Innovations, for immunotherapy candidates that exploit a viral vector known as the myxoma virus (MYXV) to treat cancer without damaging healthy cells. OncoMyx furthers the inventions of a team under Grant McFadden, director of the Center for Immunotherapy, Vaccines and Virotherapy at ASU’s Biodesign Institute. Proceeds from the series A round will fund MYXV’s pre-clinical development.