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Venture capital funding reached over $23 billion in the month of July, according to Crunchbase, up more than 20% year over year. The leading sector for investment? Healthcare and biotech companies, which raised a total of $6 billion in investment capital–outpacing even AI companies.
The report also notes several notable billion-dollar exits this year, including Nerio Therapeutics acquisition by Boehringer Ingelheim and Otsuka’s acquisition of Jnana Therapeutics.
This Secretive Billionaire Thinks He Can Cure HIV. Here’s Why.
Terry Ragon is a billionaire thanks to founding software company InterSystems, which is used by healthcare systems worldwide. He and his wife have donated $400 million of their wealth in pursuit of one of the holy grails of biotechnology: a vaccine for HIV. Here’s why he thinks the approach he’s backing has a chance to succeed when so many others have failed.
Read more here.
Pipeline & Deal Updates
Endometrial Cancer: The FDA announced that it’s expanded its approval of GSK’s cancer drug Jemperli in combination with chemotherapy to include endometrial cancer patients with mismatch repair proficient/microsatellite stable tumors, which represents about 70-75% of total patients diagnosed with this form of cancer.
Pharmacy: Walgreens has sold more shares of drug distributor Cencora for proceeds of about $1.1 billion, which will be used “primarily for debt paydown and general corporate purposes.”
Neurology: Roche and Genentech have exercised their option for a Neuromap from Recursion Pharmaceuticals, triggering a $30 million milestone payment for the product, which is designed to uncover neurological insights using cell data and Recursion’s AI algorithms.
Dialysis: The FDA issued a 510(k) clearance for Diality’s Moda-flx hemodialysis system for kidney failure patients.
Brain cancer: The FDA approved Servier’s new drug Vorianigo as a treatment for certain brain cancer patients with grade 2 astrocytoma or oligodendroglioma with particular mutations. Agios Pharmaceuticals will receive a $1.1 billion milestone payment as a result of the approval under its collaboration agreement with Servier.
Updated COVID Vaccines Are Coming
Drug manufacturers have created updated monovalent COVID-19 vaccines to protect against currently circulating variants, and the shots—which have shown to be more effective than the now-available vaccines—are expected to be available as soon as this month.
Read more here.
Other Healthcare News
Dopamine May Improve Memory Of Alzheimer’s Patients, Study Suggests
Ozempic Maker Novo Nordisk Sinks On Disappointing Earnings
Another Profitable Quarter For Oscar Health As Obamacare Business Grows
Wegovy And Zepbound Doses Available Again After Months Of Shortages, FDA Says—But Supplies Are Still Limited
CVS Health CEO Takes Charge At Aetna After Insurer’s Latest Miss
Cancer Rates Increased Among Millennials And Gen X, Study Suggests—Here’s Why
Across Forbes
What Else We are Reading
The race to build better CRISPR delivery vehicles is heating up (Stat)
Second brain implant by Elon Musk’s Neuralink: will it fare better than the first? (Nature)
American Science Slips into Dangerous Decline, Experts Warn, while Chinese Research Surges (Scientific American)
