Market conditions continue to pose challenges for startups trying to raise money. Some of these companies might be a fit for Sanofi’s corporate venture capital arm, which the pharmaceutical giant has infused with a fresh $625 million to invest.
With the new capital commitment, Sanofi said Sanofi Ventures will remain focused on the pharma company’s key therapeutic areas: immunology, rare diseases, neurology, and vaccines. This year to date, Sanofi Ventures’ investments include participation in financing rounds for RNA interference therapies developer Atalanta Therapeutics, rare disease startup Glycomine, and neuroscience biotech Drain Therapeutics.
“By strengthening our investment capabilities, we are accelerating our ability to bring next-generation therapies that improve people’s lives while building valuable partnerships across the healthcare ecosystem,” Sanofi CEO Paul Hudson said in a prepared statement.
Sanofi formed Sanofi Ventures in 2012. Since then, the big pharma’s investment arm has deployed more than $800 million in early-stage companies working in biotech and digital health. With the new capital announced this past week, Sanofi said Sanofi Ventures’ total assets under management now tops $1.4 billion.
With the third quarter of 2025 ending soon, here’s a recap of some recent biotech financings:
—Sparrow Pharmaceuticals now has $95 million to finance ongoing mid-stage clinical testing of clofutriben as a treatment for type 2 diabetes with elevated cortisol. The drug is a once-daily oral HSD-1 inhibitor designed to modulate intracellular cortisol production in key metabolic tissues. The Portland, Oregon-based biotech says this novel approach offers the potential to complement existing diabetes drugs. Sparrow expects the Phase 2b study will yield data in 2027. RA Capital Management and Forbion co-led Sparrow’s Series B financing.
—Ollin Biosciences launched with $100 million to support early clinical development of OLN324, an experimental drug for the wet form of age-related macular degeneration or diabetic macular edema. Antibody drugs that target the protein VEGF are standard treatments for these eye disorders. Ollin’s drug is a bispecific antibody designed to target VEGF and another target called Ang2. OLN324 was discovered by and is being developed in collaboration with Shanghai-based Innovent Biologics.
A Phase 1b study is fully enrolled and is comparing OLN324 against Genentech drug faricimab, brand name Vabysmo, to show potential areas of anatomic and durability differentiation. Preliminary results are expected in the first quarter of 2026. Ollin said the financing was led by Arch Venture Partners, Mubadala Capital, and Monograph Capital.
—Avenzo Therapeutics closed $60 million in financing to continue development of its pipeline of small molecules and antibody drug conjugates for cancer. Lead program AVZO-021, a small molecule inhibitor of CDK2, is in Phase 1 testing for the treatment of advanced solid tumors and in drug combinations for the treatment of HR-positive and HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer. Avenzo’s Series B financing was led by OrbiMed and SR One.
—Seed Therapeutics secured $30 million as it prepares to advance to clinical testing with lead program ST-01156, a brain-penetrating molecular glue degrader of RBM39. This drug will be tested in for Ewing sarcoma and other RBM39-dependent cancers. The King of Prussia, Pennsylvania-based biotech described the new capital as a Series A-3 financing.
—Dualitas Therapeutics launched from stealth with $65 million to support development of its bispecific antibodies for autoimmune disease. The South San Francisco-based startup’s drugs come from its DualScreen platform technology that screens bispecific combinations to find the ones promising to drug. Versant Ventures and Qiming Venture Partners USA co-led Dualitas’s Series A round.
—AllRock Bio unveiled $50 million to finance mid-stage clinical tests of ROC-101 for pulmonary arterial hypertension and pulmonary hypertension with interstitial lung disease. The drug, an oral small molecule inhibitor of ROCK1 and ROCK2 enzymes, was licensed from Sanofi. Phase 1 results are scheduled for presentation during the European Respiratory Society Congress in Amsterdam at the end of September. Versant Ventures and Westlake BioPartners led AllRock’s Series A financing
—Flagship Pioneering-founded Lila Sciences raised $235 million as the company opens new facilities in Boston, San Francisco, and London for its “AI Science Factories.” Lila said these facilities will bring together artificial intelligence, software, and hardware to conduct simulations and lab experiments in fields that include materials science, drugs, and agriculture. Lila emerged from stealth in March, revealing $200 million in seed financing. The new capital, a Series A round, was co-led by Braidwell and Collective Global.
—Gene therapy developer Kriya Therapeutics secured $320 million to continue clinical development of programs for geographic atrophy, thyroid eye disease, type 1 diabetes, metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH), and trigeminal neuralgia. The MASH program came from a 2023 acquisition. Patient Square Capital and Premji Invest co-led Kriya’s Series D round.
—Odyssey Therapeutics closed a $213 million Series D round to support its pipeline of clinical and preclinical small molecules that precisely address drivers of complex autoimmune diseases. The Boston-based biotech’s most advanced program is a RIPK2 scaffolding inhibitor in mid-stage clinical development for ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease. The company filed preliminary IPO paperwork in January, but withdrew those plans in June. Odyssey launched in 2021 founded by serial biotech entrepreneur Gary Glick.
—Gene therapy developer Epigenic Therapeutics landed $60 million to support ongoing clinical testing of EPI-003 for chronic hepatitis B and EPI-001 for hypercholesterolemia. The Shanghai-based biotech aims to treat a variety of diseases with therapies that regulate the epigenetic genome. Epigenic’s Series B round was led by Lapham Capital.
—NRG Therapeutics closed £50 million (about $67 million) in financing to support development of oral small molecules that penetrate the brain to inhibit a target called mitochondrial permeability transition pore (mPTP). The Stevenage, U.K.-based startup’s lead program, NRG5051, has been tested in preclinical models of Parkinson’s disease as well as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis/motor neuron disease. SV Health Investors’ Dementia Discovery Fund led the Series B financing for NRG, which expects to begin clinical testing its drug in early 2026.
—Techbio startup Enveda raised $150 million to support clinical development of multiple programs, including lead program ENV-294, which has enrolled its first patient in an atopic dermatitis clinical trial. The Boulder, Colorado-based company’s technology uses AI to analyze molecules found in nature to map their therapeutic properties. The company says this research has yielded 16 preclinical programs, more than a dozen development candidates, four IND-enabling programs, and the ENV-294 in Phase 1b testing. Premji Invest led Enveda’s latest financing, a Series D round that follows a $150 million Series C round that closed this past winter.
—Rapafusyn Pharmaceuticals raised $44 million for its work developing non-degrading molecular glues. The startup said its lead program, a selective ENT1 inhibitor, is advancing toward investigational new drug application-enabling studies after showing “compelling activity” in renal disease models. Baltimore-based Rapafusyn said the Series A round closed with the addition of investors BioTrack Capital and Yonjin Capital.
—Stealthy Treeline Biosciences raised $200 million to support a pipeline that includes three cancer programs in early clinical development. The Watertown, Massachusetts-based biotech said the new capital is an extension of its Series A round. In total, Treeline said it has raised more than $1.1 billion to date.
—Startup Corsera Health launched, revealing $50 million raised to date from insiders and co-founders Clive Meanwell and John Maraganore. Both are former executives of companies that developed RNA interference medicines, Meanwell at The Medicines Company and Maganore at Alnylam Pharmaceuticals. Boston-based Corsera is developing an AI-enabled tool to predict cardiovascular disease risk and guide how to extend health span. The startup is also developing a preventive RNAi medicine for cardiovascular disease designed to target PCSK9 to lower cholesterol and angiotensinogen to lower blood pressure. This drug candidate, dosed annually, is on track to human testing by the end of 2025.
—Charm Therapeutics reeled in $80 million to advance its menin inhibitor to the clinic as a treatment for acute myeloid leukemia. The biotech says its menin inhibitors overcome limitations of first-generation drugs in this class, including rapid emergence of resistance mutations in the menin protein that reduce efficacy and lead to relapse and disease progression as well as safety risks. Charm’s Series B round was co-led by New Enterprise Associates and SR One.
—Wugen raised $115 million to continue a Phase 3 test of its off-the-shelf CAR-T cell therapy, WU-CART-007. The pivotal study is testing the CRISPR-edited therapy as a treatment for relapsed or refractory T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia and T-cell lymphoblastic lymphoma. The financing was led by Fidelity Management & Research Company.
—Leal Therapeutics closed $30 million in funding to continue clinical development of lead program LTX-001, a brain-penetrating oral small molecule inhibitor of the mitochondrial enzyme glutaminase, a potential treatment for psychiatric disorders and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Another program, LTX-002, is an antisense oligonucleotide in development for ALS. The Series A round was led by SV Health Investors’ Dementia Discovery Fund.
—RNA therapies developer Arnatar Therapeutics emerged from stealth, revealing it had raised a $52 million in Series A financing last year led by Eight Roads and 3E Bioventures. Founded in 2022, the San Diego-based startup’s lead therapeutic candidate is ART4, an antisense oligonucleotide advancing toward the clinic as a potential treatment for Alagille syndrome, a rare genetic disorder that affects the liver.
—Immunotherapy developer Anocca raised 440 million Swedish krona to support Phase 1 testing of VIDAR-1, the company’s gene-edited TCR T-cell therapies targeting mutant KRAS to treat pancreatic cancer. Mellby Gård led the financing.
Photo: phive2015, Getty Images
