NCBiotech News

BMI OrganBank has secured a $3.5 million federal grant that will help the Winston-Salem company advance its kidney preservation technology and prepare for clinical trials.

The Phase 2 Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant from the National Institutes of Health is a significant milestone for the five-year-old company, CEO Carrie DiMarzio said in a statement.

Caidya, a clinical research organization (CRO) based in Raleigh, has raised $165 million in private equity to support its growth.

The investment came from funds managed by Rubicon Founders, a Nashville-based healthcare investment firm. Rubicon joins Caidya’s existing backers, including global venture capital, private equity and healthcare investors.

Ed Field discovered his passion for building biotechnology innovation while working with an equity-backed biopharma start-up in Seattle soon after obtaining his MBA from the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business. He led the company to acquisition in 2002, and a career was born.

“I learned I really enjoyed meeting entrepreneurs and understanding what they were trying to build,” he said in a recent interview with the North Carolina Biotechnology Center. “It’s not an easy life, but it is challenging and rewarding to be a part of this industry.”

Tune Therapeutics, an epigenome-editing company with origins at Duke University, has raised over $175 million in financing to advance a potential treatment for chronic hepatitis B and other diseases. The financing – among the largest ever for a North Carolina life science company – was led by New Enterprise Associates, Yosemite, Regeneron Ventures and Hevolution Foundation.

The Piedmont Triad Regenerative Medicine Engine (PTRME), funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), has awarded six regional companies $2.5 million in grants as part of its inaugural Ecosystem Building Grant program.

Regenerative medicine aims to repair or replace damaged cells, tissues and organs using technologies like stem cells, tissue engineering, gene editing and biomaterials to stimulate natural healing or create functional replacements.

Durham-based Tavros Therapeutics, a precision oncology company spun out of Duke University, has been acquired by a subsidiary of global life sciences titan Bayer AG.

Financial terms of the deal with San Diego-based Vividion Therapeutics, an independent and wholly owned subsidiary of Bayer, were not disclosed.

With an aggregate of $11 million raised in an initial Series A funding round, Doron Therapeutics is advancing its lead biologic drug, MOTYS, into Phase 3 clinical studies for symptomatic knee osteoarthritis. The funding signals a fresh chapter for the clinical-stage biotech company, which focuses on degenerative musculoskeletal conditions.

Upstream Biotechnology, a Durham-based developer of innovative crop varieties resilient to environmental stress, and Bene Seeds Inc., a California-based provider of high-quality tomato seed products, have announced a strategic business and R&D partnership.

Hippocrates, the “father of modern medicine,” is credited with the admonition that “Our food should be our medicine, and our medicine should be our food.”

Embracing that belief, a North Carolina State University spinout company founded in 2019 is launching a new kind of “boost” to foods and beverages that captures unique and elusive benefits in human breast milk, to maximize gut health.

Heron Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: HRTX), a commercial-stage biotechnology company, will relocate its headquarters from San Diego, California, to Cary, North Carolina, effective Jan. 1, 2025, according to a recent company announcement. 

The first Clinical Outsourcing Group: CRO Summit was held in Raleigh on Dec. 3-4, 2024. The event brought together more than 200 attendees to explore opportunities for improving collaboration between sponsors and clinical research organizations (CROs).  

Durham-based Humacyte, founded by three female scientists in 2004, has received marketing approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for its first product – a groundbreaking bioengineered blood vessel designed to be universally implantable. 

In the spirit of the holiday season, I’d like to reflect upon my time as the Regional Economic Competitiveness Officer (RECO) for North Carolina’s Build Back Better Regional Challenge (BBBRC), offer my thanks to our entire coalition and the Economic Development Administration (EDA), and speak to the “Magic” of Accelerate NC. 

Oncurie Inc., an RTP company specializing in radiopharmaceuticals and radioisotope chelators for cancer diagnosis and treatment, has been awarded a $349,000 Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) grant from the National Cancer Institute. The funding will support the preclinical development of its ovarian cancer product, solidifying its leadership in the state’s rapidly growing radiopharmaceutical industry. 

The North Carolina Biotechnology Center awarded 14 grants and loans totaling $1,287,335 to bioscience companies, universities and non-profit organizations in the first quarter of its fiscal year.

The awards, made in July, August and September, will support life science research, technology commercialization and entrepreneurship throughout North Carolina. The funding will also help companies attract follow-on funding from other sources.