News roundup 14 January 2019

Exscientia sends for $26m
Celgene and Evotec have put capital into Exscientia as the Dundee-founded automated drug discovery services provider added Roche to its roster of development partners.
Sophia Genetics generates $77m
The genomic testing platform developer has now raised some $140m, eight years after being co-founded in EPFL’s Innovation Park by researchers from EMBL, Stanford and Geneva University.
Atriva finds series A relief
Spun out of Tübingen, Justus Liebig University Gießen and Münster, Atriva Therapeutics has raised an initial $1.4m to progress next-generation antiviral drugs for conditions including influenza.
UChicago chimes with four new spinouts
University of Chicago’s Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship has formed microbiome-focused Avnovum Therapeutics, BiomeSense, Covira and Oxalo Therapeutics over the past year.
GeoSpock pinpoints $12.8m
Cambridge big data analytics spinout GeoSpock has now raised $24.5m from investors including Cambridge Innovation Capital and Parkwalk Advisors.
Sanofi hands $91m to Biontech
Biontech, a spinout of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, has received $91.5m in funding as part of the extension of a deal to develop a cancer immunotherapy candidate with Sanofi.
Byton bids to raise $500m
Half a year after raising $500m in a TUS Holdings-backed series B round, the electric car developer is seeking another $500m before it floats.
Apic Bio picks up $40m
The series A funding will help UMass-founded genetic disease therapy developer Apic Bio progress targeted drugs for ALS and Alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency.
NUI Galway companies garner $40m in 2018
NUI Galway-linked businesses to have secured backing last year include kidney reflux test spinout Kite Medical and medical implant developer Loci Orthopaedics.
PetaGene generates $2.1m
PetaGene hopes its data compression technology will aid the genomic sequencing industry.
ETH Zurich ignites 27 spinouts in 2018
ETH Zurich spinouts lifted their total funding haul to $173.3m from $123.1m in 2017.
Mahle puts ZG into gear
Founded out of TUM, transmission gear manufacturer ZG-Zahnräder und Getriebe has been bought by Mahle to bolster its integrated drive system capacity.
Washington likes the look of Neoleukin
Immunooncology spinout Neoleukin Therapeutics is working on a safer, synthetic replica of a T-cell-boosting protein called interleukin-2.
IU fund pours $500,000 into Diagnotes
Indiana University Philanthropic Venture Fund has joined Purdue Ventures and university-backed VC vehicle Indiana Seed Fund as an investor in healthcare communication platform Diagnotes.
Lettus Grow harvests $585,000
University of Bristol Enterprise Fund has returned with more cash for irrigation system developer Lettus Grow, founded by Bristol graduates and students.
DNAstack piles up funding
Genomics data management and analysis platform DNAStack has secured a follow-on investment from Facit, building on the commercialisation unit’s initial commitment in 2017.
Parkwalk Advisors funds flow to Flusso
University of Cambridge flow sensor spinout Flusso was previously backed by the university’s Cambridge Enterprise tech transfer office in June 2017.