VCs back newly launched Braveheart, Azalea and Neok: Finance Report

Venture dollars continued to flow into newly launched biotechs this week, with three companies raising $342 million in total, while companies going public on both sides of the Pacific posted first-day gains.

A thumbnail sketch of Braveheart Bio Inc. came to light in early September, when Jiangsu Hengrui Pharmaceuticals Co. Ltd. (Shanghai:600276; HKEX:1276) disclosed in a regulatory filing that the U.S.-based company had in-licensed ex-China rights to cardiac myosin inhibitor HRS-1893. This week, Braveheart itself filled in the picture, announcing its launch with newly renamed BHB-1893 and a $185 million series A. The company’s CEO is Travis Murdoch, who led Human Immunology Bio Inc. — informally, HI-Bio — through its acquisition by Biogen Inc. (NASDAQ:BIIB) last year. Biogen CEO Christopher Viehbacher is Braveheart’s chairman...