News roundup 1 April 2019

Sana Biotechnology manoeuvres from Harvard
Sana has emerged with funding from investors including F-Prime Capital, Arch and Flagship Pioneering to develop genetically modified hypoimmogenic stem cells.
Strathclyde fuels industrial biotech proposal
An industrial biotech initiative co-led by University of Strathclyde has received UK government funding to prepare an application to the UKRI’s competitive Strength in Places program.
Starts at 60 relishes $1.9m
QUT Bluebox has joined corporates Holland Insurance and Seven West Media in the second funding round for over-60s package holiday portal Starts at 60.
Saarland takes its incubator nationwide
IT Inkubator at University of Saarland will open its program to researchers across Germany, who will however have to join the existing facilities in Saarbrücken.
Vivlion comes into view
Goethe University Frankfurt has spun out Vivlion to commercialise a library of the human genome that could drive the development of more Crispr therapies.
Bahns nudges across to WaveOptics
Robert Bahns has stepped down as technology partner at IP Group to become chief financial officer at one of the firm’s portfolio businesses, WaveOptics.
Harvard harvests $150m for buyout fund
The university has reportedly backed an oversubscribed $1.5bn buyout vehicle launched by Arcline aiming to take over eight-to-10 mid-market companies.
Liftupp climbs with ExamSoft
Liverpool’s health sciences academic assessment software spinout has been bought by exam platform ExamSoft, which will augment and integrate its services.
Inivata invites investors to series B
IP Group, CIC and Johnson & Johnson have returned for a $52.2m series B round in Inivata, a spinout of Cancer Research UK and University of Cambridge.
Elicio elicits $30m
Building on work at MIT’s Koch Institute of Integrative Cancer Research, Elicio hopes to begin patient studies in 2020 for pancreatic, colorectal, head and neck cancers.
Inivata invites investors to series B
IP Group, CIC and Johnson & Johnson have returned for a $52.2m series B round in Inivata, a spinout of Cancer Research UK and University of Cambridge.
Cytena cites $3.4m
HTGF has returned to back Freiburg’s single cell-dispensing spinout Cytena after previously featuring in the company’s $1.3m round in 2015.
AMOpportunities places $2.2m
Chicago’s endowment participated in the series A, following a $1.1m seed round last year that included prize money from the Chicago-run New Venture Challenge.
GeoSpock locates additional capital
Parkwalk Advisors has injected an additional $2.6m into GeoSpock, two months after the Cambridge spinout secured $12.8m in a round co-led by the fund manager.
Cambridge Enterprise refreshes board
The office has appointed three directors and two advisers including Russell Cowburn, professor of experimental physics, and Cancer Research UK’s Tony Hickson.
Moullet made CTO at CNRS
Jean-Luc Moullet has joined the French National Center for Scientific Research, also known as CNRS, as its chief technology officer.
Hyalex extricates $33m in series A
DSM Venturing and Strategic Health Investment Partners extended the Stanford cartilage replacement spinout’s series A round, augmenting a $16m first close featuring Johnson & Johnson and Osage University Partners.
RIT monitors Heart Health Intelligence
RIT spinout HHI is looking for grant funding to commercialise a cardiovascular monitoring toilet seat intended for patients recovering from heart failure.
Nationwide tech licensing hauls in $11.5m
Licensing revenues at Nationwide Children’s Hospital fell from $36.7m in 2017, though the hospital is reportedly projecting turnover of at least $25m for the first quarter of 2019.
ANL research sustains $180m energy fund
Research from Argonne National Laboratory will support the advancement of emerging battery technology backed by Volta Energy Technologies, which is funded by corporates Equinor, Exelon, Albemarle and Hanon Systems.