NCBiotech News

RTP-based Incyclix Bio LLC has secured a $11.25 million extension to its Series B financing. 

The additional funding will help Incyclix Bio advance its first-in-human clinical trial of INX-315, an oral inhibitor of cyclin-dependent kinase 2 (CDK2) being developed to treat advanced and resistant cancer.

Two of the world’s largest life sciences companies have expanded their previously announced partnership to produce advanced medicines in North Carolina.

Restore3d, a Durham maker of three-dimensional printed orthopedic implants, has secured a new investment round valued at $104 million, including $65 million from a global private equity firm and $39 million from existing shareholders.

Biotechnology pioneer Genentech broke ground Monday on a $700 million manufacturing facility in Holly Springs, marking the company's first production site on the East Coast and a significant expansion of North Carolina's life sciences sector.

Raleigh sustainable food startup Atlantic Fish Co. has received a $305,000 Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF). This non-dilutive funding marks another step forward in the company’s work to develop scalable production of premium white fish using cellular agriculture.

A biotechnology equipment company from a small town in upstate New York is becoming a bigger player in helping boost the Piedmont Triad’s growing expertise in regenerative medicine. Privately held BioSpherix LLC provides technology that keeps cells viable. Its closed-environment cell culture and manufacturing system is a key feature of the test bed at the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine in Winston-Salem, where startups can build and evaluate prototype products and devices.

Shattuck Labs, a biotechnology company with operations in Durham, stands to raise up to $103 million in a private placement financing.

The company will use some of the proceeds for clinical development of its lead therapeutic candidate, an antibody dubbed SL-325, for the treatment of Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis and other autoimmune and inflammatory diseases.

Durham agtech startup Pairwise has landed a new high-profile customer for its CRISPR gene editing process. Mars Inc., the confectionery, pet care, and food giant, has licensed Pairwise’s gene editing platform, called Fulcrum, to help with research and development for improving cacao production. Cacao beans are used to make cocoa, the key ingredient in chocolate. “At Mars, we believe CRISPR has the potential to improve crops in ways that support and strengthen global supply chains,” Carl Jones, plant sciences director at Mars, said in a news release announcing the deal.

Durham-based Hatteras Venture Partners, a prime investor in North Carolina life sciences companies for the last quarter century, has raised over $200 million for two new venture capital funds.

The two healthcare-focused funds, Hatteras Venture Partners VII and Hatteras Opportunity Fund I, closed with capital commitments from limited partners.

Bioventus, a Durham-based health care company, has received regulatory permission to begin marketing two medical devices that treat chronic pain.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted 510(k) clearance for both TalisMann and StimTrial, which provide Peripheral Nerve Stimulation (PNS) solutions for chronic pain management. The clearance allows both products to be sold immediately without additional clinical trials.

Final plans are taking shape for Wilson Community College’s Biomanufacturing Education and Skills Training (BEST) Center of Eastern North Carolina. The College recently revealed architectural renderings and a logo for the 29,600-square-foot center, expected to open in January 2027.

Precision BioSciences Inc., a clinical-stage company developing gene editing therapies for diseases with high unmet need, has received another pair of regulatory boosts. The FDA recently granted the company’s PBGENE-DMD therapy Rare Pediatric Disease Designation and Orphan Drug Designation for the treatment of Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD).

Walking inside a 2,500-square-foot laboratory in downtown Winston-Salem, visitors might not notice anything unusual.

There are instruments, hoods, high-powered microscopes and other equipment you’d expect to see in a lab. Several researchers and technicians are busy with experiments. It’s a quiet environment.

A major reorganization of the U.S. Department of Agriculture will bring a new regional hub of the agency to Raleigh.

North Carolina’s capital is one of five U.S. cities that will gain hubs as the USDA downsizes and shifts staff from its Washington, D.C., offices. The other hubs will be in Kansas City, Indianapolis, Fort Collins, Colorado, and Salt Lake City.

Biopharmaceutical manufacturing plants are highly complex factories that use sophisticated facilities and equipment to produce drugs, vaccines and other biologics in a sterile environment and under stringent government regulations. 

Keeping these plants humming efficiently, typically around the clock, is a supreme technical and operational challenge for life sciences companies. Having a talented and trained workforce is critical to their success.