Biotech Funding Hits Record High in March with $21.8 Billion Raised Across U.S. and Europe

In March this year, there were 18 financing events in the biopharmaceutical industry in the United States and Europe, with a total financing scale reaching21.8YimeiYuan (approximately 15.896 billion RMB),Among them, the noteworthy ones include：

• Large-scale Financing in AI Pharmaceutical Field Concentrates and Breaks OutIn March, the top two companies in terms of financing were both AI pharmaceutical companies, one of which was founded by a Nobel laureate.Isomorphic Labs is even moreSingle Round Completes Record-breaking $600 Million Financing；

• Advanced Technology Routes and New Targets Gain Attention:3Month,HDAC6 Inhibitor CompanyAugustine 、mGluR5 Negative Allosteric Modulator CompanyTempero Bio、KnotBody DrugCompanyMaxion Therapeutics and other cutting-edge technology companies have received substantial financing.

On March 31, Isomorphic Labs announced that it had raised $600 million in its first round of external financing. This round of financing was led by Thrive Capital, with GV and Alphabet providing follow-up funding.Thrive Capital, the lead investor this time, is one of the hottest venture capital firms globally today, known for its "Placing huge bets on a few startups" is known for the style of , once threw outOpenAI、Instagram、Stripe、SpotifyAnd a host of other star projects.

Isomorphic Labs was founded in 2021,The founder and CEO is Demis Hassabis, the 2024 Nobel Prize in Chemistry laureate. The company is dedicated to redefining the drug discovery and development process using artificial intelligence technology, with core technologies including revolutionary AI models such as AlphaFold.PreviouslyIn Ark Invest’s "Big Ideas 2025" report, Isomorphic Labs is listed as one of the few key companies in the AI drug discovery field.。

AlphaFold is an AI model capable of predicting the three-dimensional structure of proteins, reducing the prediction error from the 10Å level of traditional methods to the atomic scale (1.6Å).Based on the technical foundation of AlphaFold, Isomorphic Labs has developed the PhoenixAI platform, which, through the fusion architecture of Graph Neural Networks (GNN) and Diffusion Models, is capable of simulating atomic-level interactions between drug molecules and protein pockets, significantly shortening the lead compound optimization cycle.

In May 2024, Isomorphic Labs andGoogle DeepMindCo-developedAlphaFold 3 Model Released,Accurately predict the structure and interactions of all biomolecules, significantly reduce the cost of new drug development, and increase clinical success rates. According to Morgan Stanley, if this technology is fully implemented, it could...The cost of new drug research and development has been reduced from the current average of 2.6 billion US dollars to 170 million US dollars, while the clinical success rate has increased from 9.6% to 34%.。

The company's excellent technology has won collaborations with several major pharmaceutical enterprises, with collaboration amounts reaching up to 3 billion US dollars:

• January 7, 2024Isomorphic Labs announced withLillyReached a strategic research collaboration to co-develop small molecule therapies targeting multiple targets. The company will receive $45 million in upfront cash, with potential milestone payments of up to $1.7 billion and royalties of up to double-digit percentages on net sales.

• January 7, 2024Isomorphic Labs announced withNovartisReached a strategic research collaboration to co-develop small molecule therapies targeting three undisclosed targets. The company received a $37.5 million upfront payment, with potential milestone payments of up to $1.2 billion and royalties ranging from mid-single digits to low double digits on net sales.

In addition to these partnerships, Isomorphic is advancing design projects across multiple therapeutic areas and drug modalities, including oncology and autoimmune diseases. The company plans to bring some AI-designed drugs into clinical trials by the end of this year.

The company's Scientific Advisory Board includes 2020Nobel Prize in Chemistry Winner, CRISPR PioneerJennifer Doudna，2021 Nobel Prize in Chemistry Winner David MacMillan，2001 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine Winner Paul Nurse, and other notable figures such as former AstraZeneca Executive Vice President Mene Pangalos.

In recent years,AI Drug Development is a Hotspot in the Capital Market, including Retro Biosciences (US$1 billion Series A), Xaira Therapeutics (US$1 billion initial funding), and EvolutionaryScale (US$142 million seed round), several AI-driven pharmaceutical companies have recently secured or are in the process of raising substantial early-stage financing.

2、Lila Sciences：Flagship Pioneering-incubated AIPharmaceutical Company

March 10,Lila Sciences Announces Completion of $200 Million Seed Financing Round. Investors in this round includeFlagship Pioneering, General Catalyst, March Capital, ARK Venture Fund, Altitude Life Science Ventures, Blue Horizon Advisors, State of Michigan Retirement System, Modi Ventures, and Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) among other renowned institutions.

Lila Science was born in 2023 within Flagship's internal lab. At the time, Flagship incubated two early-stage AI companies: one focused on new materials and the other on biology. Later, as the development goals of the two companies converged and they began recruiting the same talent, they merged internally.

Lila Science is dedicated to developing an artificial intelligence program trained on published experimental data and scientific process reasoning. In just two years, the company's platform has demonstrated performance surpassing human and existing AI benchmarks across multiple fields, such as: generating optimal gene drug structures superior to commercially available therapies, discovering and validating hundreds of novel antibodies, peptides, and binders for a wide range of therapeutic targets, and designing new materials for industrial-scale carbon capture.

In terms of business model, Lila, unlike other AI pharmaceutical companies, does not directly engage in the research and development of new drugs itself, but ratherCollaborate with Flagship-incubated pharmaceutical companies and external biotechnology firms, assuming the role of a "research accelerator" to expedite peer drug development.

In terms of the team,Lila Science has gathered numerous well-known experts in the industry:Harvard UniversityRenowned geneticist George Church serves as the chief scientist.OpenAIFormer executive Kenneth Stanley serves as Senior Vice President, and Flagship's General Partner Geoffrey von Maltzahn serves as Chief Executive Officer.

Chief Medical OfficerNaomi once served as ProfoundBio (Pufang Bio) Chief Medical Officer (Acquired by Genmab for $1.8 billion), prior to which she served as Chief Medical Officer of Silverback Therapeutics, Vice President of Clinical Development and Medical Affairs at Acerta Pharma, and Vice President of Clinical Development at Seattle Genetics.

4、Latigo Biotherapeutics：Potential Challenger to Vertex's Painkillers

March 17,Latigo Biotherapeutics Announces Completion of $150 Million Series B Financing, Led byLed by funds managed by Blue Owl Capital,Qatar Investment Authority, Deep Track Capital, Access Biotechnology, Cormorant Asset Management, Sanofi Ventures, Rock Springs Capital, UPMC Enterprises, Kern Capital, Westlake Village BioPartners, Foresite Capital, 5AM Ventures, and Alexandria Venture Investments participated in the follow-up investment.

Latigo Biotherapeutics was incubated and established in 2020 by Westlake Village BioPartners, a biopharmaceutical investment firm.It is a biotechnology company focused on developing non-opioid analgesics.

Currently, the company has four drugs under development, the most significant of which is LTG-001. This is an oral selective Nav1.8 inhibitor currently in Phase II clinical trials aimed at treating acute and chronic pain, with data expected to be released in the second half of this year.

NaV 1.8 inhibitors are a novel mechanism analgesic that has come into the pharmaceutical industry's view in recent years, with potential advantages such as rapid onset, significant efficacy, better safety than standard care, and no impact on the central nervous system.

At the end of January this year, Journavx, a drug developed by Vertex Pharmaceuticals, was successfully approved, becomingThe First Painkiller Targeting NaV1.8 to Receive FDA ApprovalAlthough Journavx faces a certain level of commercial challenges, with the pain relief market long dominated by inexpensive opioid drugs, analysts remain highly optimistic about the drug's prospects, predicting it could become a blockbuster worth billions.

Latigo's LTG-001 has the potential to becomeExpected to become a "best-in-class" drug. In addition to LTG-001, the company has a series of Nav1.8 inhibitors currently in the discovery stage.

Dr. Desmond Padhi, Operating Partner at Westlake, serves as the company’s Chief Executive Officer. Prior to joining Westlake, Dr. Padhi spent 20 years at Amgen, where he served as Vice President of Pharmacokinetics, Drug Metabolism, and Clinical Pharmacology.

In the primary market, in February 2024, Latigo Biotheraputics announced the completion of a $135 million Series A financing round, led by Westlake Village BioPartners, with participation from 5AM Ventures, Foresite Capital, and Corner Ventures.

The company's incubator, Westlake Village BioPartners, was founded in 2018.Dedicated to fostering and developing life science companies with entrepreneurs who are poised to bring transformative therapies to patients.Sean Harper, Ph.D., co-founder of Westlake, joined Amgen's R&D department in 2002 and became Executive Vice President of R&D in 2012, during which he led the approval of new drugs in Amgen's cardiovascular, oncology, neuroscience, and renal disease fields.

5、Curevo Vaccine: The Challenger to Shingrix, the Shingles Vaccine

March 17,Curevo Vaccine Announces Completion of $110 Million Series B Financing. This round of financing was led byMedicxi led the investment, followed by OrbiMed, HBM Healthcare Investments, Sanofi Ventures, RA Capital Management, Janus Henderson Investors, Adjuvant Capital, and GC Biopharma.

Curevo Vaccine, founded in 2018, is a pharmaceutical company focused on producing a new generation of shingles vaccines.

The company's only pipeline product, CRV-101, is an adjuvanted subunit vaccine designed to prevent shingles in the elderly.CRV-101 has been specifically designed to elicit an optimal immune response with minimal adjuvant use, aiming for efficacy comparable to currently approved shingles vaccines but with fewer side effects.

Currently, the shingles vaccines that have been marketed include Merck'sLive attenuated vaccineZostavax, and GlaxoSmithKline'sRecombinant subunit vaccine Shingrix. Among them,Shingrix with 90%Effective, occupying a dominant market position.

• February 2022,Curevo Vaccine Announces Completion of $60 Million Series A Financing RoundLed by RA Capital, with participation from Aduvant Capital, Janus Henderson Investors, EN Investment, and founding investor GC Pharma;
• November 2022,Curevo Vaccine Announces Completion of $26 Million Series A+ Financing Round, Investors IncludeJanus Henderson, RA Capital, Adverant Capital, and GC Biopharma.

6、Character Biosciences: Bausch + Lomb Supported New Ophthalmic DrugsCompany

March 25,Character Biosciences Announces Completion of $100 Million Series C Financing. This round of financing was led byaMoon and Luma Group jointly led the investment, with participation from Bausch + Lomb, Jefferson Life Sciences, Innovation Endeavors, Catalio Capital, S32, and KdT Ventures.

Character Biosciences was founded in 2019 and is committed to building patient databases and developing precision medicine solutions for polygenic diseases through more cost-efficient observational studies.

By collaborating with more than 150 ophthalmology centers across the United States, the company has built a gene-clinical-imaging database covering over 6,500 patients. This has enabled the reclassification of genetic subtypes of AMD, uncovering key pathogenic mechanisms and targets. Combined with AI and multi-omics approaches, it is expected to enhance the success rate of precision treatment for complex eye diseases.

Currently, the company has four pipelines under research, among which the most important ones are:

• CTX114: A complement inhibitor designed to slow the progression of geographic atrophy in advanced dry AMD. The drug is designed to inhibit complement system activation and protect retinal cell surfaces from immune attack.

• CTX203: A lipid regulator, indicated forHigh-risk intermediate AMD.This drug is an artificially designed ApoA1 mimetic peptide that targets the ABCA1 lipid transport pathway, with a therapeutic direction focused on "slowing progression" rather than "reversing disease," aimed at individuals with early to intermediate AMD who currently have no drug coverage.(Not yet progressed to geographic atrophy).

CTX203 and CTX114 are expected to enter clinical trials this year. The company is also leveraging its AI-driven genomics-based platform to expand its pipeline to other ophthalmic diseases.

March 18,Arbor Biotechnologies Announces Completion of $73.9 Million Series C Financing. This round of financing was led byARCH Venture Partners and TCGX led the investment, QIA,abrdn, Partners Investment, Revolution Partners, Kerna Ventures, Ally Bridge, Arrowmark, Deep Track, Piper Heartland Healthcare, Surveyor, Temasek, T. Rowe Price Associates, and Vertex Pharmaceuticals participated in the follow-up investment.

Arbor Biotechnologies, founded in 2016, is a gene editing enzyme development company.The co-founders of Arbor includeProfessor Zhang Feng, David Walt, David Scott, Winston Yan and other well-known figures in the industry.

Arbor mainly develops new gene editors through machine learning and artificial intelligence technologies. To date, the company has developed 17 gene editors, covering more than 90% of the genome. It has also discovered over 60 nucleases families and more than 70 CRISPR transposases, which are 6 times and 30 times the numbers reported in published literature, respectively.

Arbor's gene editors mainly include two categories: CRISPR nuclease editors and CRISPR transposase editors. Among them, CRISPR nucleases include DNA nucleases (Cas12h, Cas12i) and RNA nucleases (Cas13d, Cas12g, Type III-E), etc.

In May 2024, Arbor also acquired Serendipity Biosciences, another gene-editing company under Zhang Feng, obtaining technologies such as the DNA endonuclease gene editor Fanzor and the gene editor IsrB.

Currently, the company has 8 pipelines under research, the most important of which is ABO-101.ABO-101 is an in vivo gene editing therapy for Primary Hyperoxaluria (PH), which received FDA IND approval in December 2024. It is currently in Phase I/II clinical trials for PH1 and is expected to be preliminarily completed by 2029.

Previously, at the 2024 ASGCT Annual Meeting, Arbor presented the preclinical data of BO-101. In non-human primates (NHP), BO-101 achieved effective in vivo editing of the HAO1 gene, and multiple administrations were well-tolerated.

In addition, the company is advancing the IND/CTA filing for its first-of-a-kind programs, including an RT (reverse transcriptase) editing project for a rare liver disease and a program targeting amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).

In terms of external cooperation,Vertex is a long-term partner of the company., first reached a cooperation in 2018, and expanded the cooperation agreement twice in 2021 and 2023, especially the expansion cooperation amount in 2021 was as high as$1.2 billion. In addition, Arbor in 2022 and 2024, respectively, Allogene andEdiGeneReached an authorized cooperation.

In the primary market, the company has completed two rounds of financing:

• May 2017,Arbor Announces $5.6 Million Series A Financing and Comes Out of Stealth Mode;

• In November 2021, Arbor announced the completion of a $215 million Series B financing round. This round was led by Temasek, Ally Bridge Group, and TCG Crossover, with participation from Arrowmark, Deep Track, Great Point Ventures, Illumina Ventures, Janus Henderson Investors, Logos Capital, Ono Venture, Piper Heartland Healthcare, Ridgeback Capital, Section 32, Surveyor Capital, T. Rowe Price Associates, Tao, and other institutions.

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