Magnet Biomedicine builds on decades of molecular glue research from its scientific co-founder, Harvard University Professor Stuart Schreiber. The startup is developing drugs that take these glues beyond the biotech industry’s current focus on targeted protein degradation.

RayzeBio’s IPO will support pivotal testing of a targeted radiopharmaceutical for cancer patients who progress after treatment with Novartis’s Lutathera. Neumora will apply its IPO cash toward Phase 3 testing of a depression drug with a novel mechanism of action.

Avalon BioVentures unveiled new portfolio company Arialys Therapeutics. The startup’s lead program, an antibody from Astellas Pharma, is a potential treatment for anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis (ANRE), a rare autoimmune inflammatory disorder.

Intarcia Therapeutics’ GLP-1 agonist product candidate for type 2 diabetes now belongs to i2o Therapeutics, which will make the treatment’s case for approval at an upcoming FDA advisory committee meeting. The startup’s $46 million Series A financing is one of several recently announced funding rounds.

Biotech startups raised $2.6 billion globally in the second quarter of this year, but that’s down nearly 46% compared to the same period last year, according to a report from Pitchbook. Capital is harder to find, and the report projects an uptick in M&A activity as companies run out of cash.

Septerna Therapeutics’ Series B financing will support plans to reach the clinic with a pill for a rare disease whose only approved therapy is a Takeda Pharmaceutical drug that’s leaving the market. Potential rival therapies are all injectables.

Ray Therapeutics’ gene therapy is independent of the causative genes driving inherited vision disorders, which CEO Paul Bresge says is important for reaching a broad patient population. Rare disease retinitis pigmentosa is the first disease target, but the startup also plans to test its approach in more prevalent eye disorders.

Merck, Sanofi, and Eli Lilly joined the Series A financing of Therini Bio, a startup developing a drug that selectively targets fibrin as a way of reducing disease-driving inflammation in neurodegeneration and eye disorders such as diabetic macular edema. Therini is preparing to advance its lead program to clinical testing.

ARCH Venture Partners-backed Orbital Therapeutics’ is researching next-generation RNA medicines that offer advantages over currently available therapies. The startup’s three areas of focus are vaccines, protein replacement, and immunomodulation.

The biggest rounds of recent biotech financings are from startups raising money to advance their research to the clinic. Here’s a look back at funding rounds from companies such as Abdera Therapeutics, Complement Therapeutics, and Enveda Biosciences.

Abdera Therapeutics emerged from stealth with technology that improves the way antibodies deliver radiopharmaceuticals for cancer. A lead program with preclinical proof-of-concept data in small cell lung cancer is on track to reach the clinic in 2024.

SR One’s new investment fund is its second one since spinning out of GSK in 2020. The firm says it now has more than $1.5 billion in assets under management.

Flare Therapeutics, EpiBiologics, and Mbiomics are among the biotech companies that recently unveiled new rounds of financing.

Alzheimer’s disease research at MIT spawned Cognito Therapeutics, a startup whose medical device uses light and sound to modulate electrical activity that supports brain health. The company’s Series B financing will support a Phase 3 test of its technology in patients with mild-to-moderate disease.

Ampersand Biomedicines emerged from stealth with technology for site-specific drug delivery that avoids toxic effects throughout the body. The Flagship Pioneering-founded startup is backed by $50 million in financing.

GV led Chroma Medicine’s Series B financing round, which the biotech will apply toward epigenetic medicines that could offer advantages over other editing technologies. Other recent financings include rounds from Cargo Therapeutics and Transcend Therapeutics.

Cargo Therapeutics is developing CAR T-cell therapies that overcome ways cancers evade currently available treatments. True to its name, the startup’s approach involves putting more cargo and more complex cargo onto engineered T cells.

Hemab Therapeutics will apply its Series B financing toward clinical development of its lead drug candidate, a potential treatment for Glanzmann thrombasthenia. The capital will also support the rest its pipeline addressing rare bleeding and thrombotic diseases with no approved therapies.

Allurion Technologies has developed a gastric balloon that does not require surgery. The merger deal taking Allurion public comes as the company continues global commercialization of its technology.

R&D spending rose in response to Covid-19, bringing with it higher expectations for returns on all biopharma investments. The once sky-high projections are coming down to Earth, with returns now in line with pre-pandemic levels, according to a new Deloitte report.

Despite challenging financial market conditions, clinical-stage Structure Therapeutics was able to upsize its IPO. Much of the new cash will support its lead program, an oral small molecule that could weigh in on the diabetes and obesity indications currently dominated by blockbuster injectable medicines.

Vector BioMed has developed a technology platform for designing and manufacturing the lentiviruses used to deliver cell and gene therapies. The startup is launching as the field continues to experience shortages of these viral vectors.

Cancer continues to be a hot area of investment, and it’s the therapeutic focus of several biotech companies that have closed recent rounds of financing. Meanwhile, the investment arm of a big pharmaceutical company has an infusion of new cash to deploy in therapeutic and digital investments.

Taking the opposite approach of targeted protein degradation, biotech company Entact Bio is developing medicines that stabilize proteins and even enhances their function. This approach that could apply to cancer and certain rare diseases, and Entact’s $81 million in Series A financing enables it to work on multiple programs in parallel.

FogPharma is preclinical, but not for long. The biotech’s Series D financing round lays the groundwork to bring its lead program into the clinic in mid-2023, as well as support development of the rest of its pipeline of peptide drugs.

Eli Lilly’s stalled cancer drug prexasertib has another chance under Acrivon Therapeutics, whose IPO will fund a fresh slate of mid-stage clinical trials. While attention is focused on the former Lilly asset, also at stake is Acrivon’s technology platform that relies on proteomics rather than genomics for identifying patients appropriate for targeted therapies.

Zenas BioPharma’s Series B financing was the biggest one of the week. Other startups that emerged with new cash include Juvena Therapeutics, Sensorium Therapeutics, and NRG Therapeutics.

Juvena Therapeutics is developing secreted protein drugs built on new knowledge gleaned from proprietary technology that maps these proteins and the tissues in the body where they offer a regenerative effect. The startup’s lead program is in development for the muscle disorder myotonic dystrophy type 1.

Emalex Biosciences raised $250 million, a Series D round of funding that was the biggest biotech financing of the past week. Other biotech startup that raised money include Alterome Therapeutics, hC Bioscience, and Novadip Bioscience.

Lusaris Therapeutics launched with $60 million for clinical development of a psychedelic depression drug it claims will be easier to dose and fast-acting. The company was formed and incubated by RA Capital Management, which led the startup’s Series A round of financing.