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ARTICLE | Financial News

Aug. 2 Financial Quick Takes: Rakuten Medical bags another $100M; plus CGeneTech, Zecen, Qyuns and more

August 2, 2019 11:30 PM UTC

Rakuten Medical raises another $100 million
Rakuten Medical Inc. (San Diego, Calif.) raised $100 million in a series C-1 round from existing investor Rakuten Inc. (Tokyo:4755), giving the Japanese internet giant a 22.6% stake. The biotech closed a $284 million series C round in December 2018, with Rakuten Chairman and CEO Hiroshi Mikitani leading the round. Mikitani is also CEO of Rakuten Medical, formerly known as Aspyrian Therapeutics Inc. The company's photoimmunotherapy, ASP-1929, is in Phase III testing for squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (SCCHN); it consists of cetuximab conjugated to IRDye 700DX, a chemical dye activated upon near-infrared light illumination, to induce cell death in cells expressing EGFR.

RAPT delays IPO
A spokesperson for RAPT Therapeutics Inc. (South San Francisco, Calif.) told BioCentury the company has chosen to delay its IPO but declined to disclose why. The inflammatory disease company had proposed in July to sell 5 million shares at $14-$16...