Oct. 16 Quick Takes: Dren Bio’s $60M series A; plus Roche, Synairgen, Astellas-iota and more
Dren Bio raises $60M series A to develop cell-depleting engineered proteins
Dren Bio raised a $60 million series A round led by SR One and Taiho Ventures, LLC, with participation from existing investors 8VC and Mission BioCapital and new investors including BVF Partners, HBM Healthcare Investments and Alexandria Venture Investments. The San Carlos, Calif.-based company’s lead candidate, DR-01, triggers depletion of pathogenic cells in defined patient populations with leukemia, lymphoma or autoimmune disorders via an enhanced antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity mechanism. It raised a $6 million seed round in 2019
Roche dips on weak quarterly report
Roche (SIX:ROG, OTCQX:RHHBY) reported quarterly earnings that missed estimates, with lighter-than-expected sales of legacy oncology products contributing to the shortfall. Sales of Avastin bevacizumab, Rituxan/MabThera rituximab and Herceptin trastuzumab — all of which face biosimilar competition — came in below consensus estimates, and overall pharmaceutical sales of CHF11.1 billion ($12.2 billion) missed analysts’ expectations of CHF11.7 billion. Growth drivers Ocrevus ocrelizumab and Hemlibra emicizumab-kxwh beat estimates, while Tecentriq atezolizumab was roughly in line...