Entries by Joachim Eeckhout

Kurma Partners closes Biofund IV at €215M, giving European biotech a fresh specialist pool of capital

Kurma Partners has closed Biofund IV at €215 million, giving European biotech founders a meaningful new source of capital even though the vehicle came in below the €250 million target Kurma set when it launched the fund in October 2024. At first close, Kurma had raised €140 million and said Biofund IV would back 16 to 20 companies, building on the strategy it used in earlier funds.

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Portugal’s biotech industry is growing up

For years, Portugal sat just outside Europe’s main biotech conversation: scientifically credible, strong in research, but too small, too fragmented and too thinly financed to compete with the established hubs in Switzerland, the UK, France, Germany or the Nordics. That view is becoming harder to defend. Portugal still does not have the scale of Europe’s top biotech markets, but it is building something more durable than a collection of isolated startups.

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10 European Startups to watch in 2026

Ten young European biotechs are heading into 2026 with the kind of momentum that can quickly turn promising science into defining data: first clinical entries, platform-to-pipeline transitions, and funding rounds large enough to accelerate execution. Some are pushing new modalities into hard disease areas, while others are compressing discovery timelines and expanding what’s druggable. What they all share is a clear momentum that makes them especially worth following this year.

Mestag Therapeutics raises $40M and adds two senior biotech executives as lead cancer program nears the clinic

UK biotech Mestag Therapeutics has raised $40 million and appointed veteran drug developers Lindsey Rolfe as chief medical officer and Pascal Merchiers as chief development officer, as the company prepares to start its first clinical trial in cancer in mid-2026. The new financing brings total capital committed to the Cambridge-based company to more than $95 million, following its $11 million launch round in April 2021 and a seed extension that took total seed financing to $45 million in August 2021.

Roche and Zealand’s obesity contender clears phase 2, but investors were looking for more

Roche and Zealand Pharma have delivered a clinically positive phase 2 readout for petrelintide, their amylin-based obesity drug, but the market reaction made clear that “positive” is no longer enough in the weight-loss race. After the companies reported that patients achieved up to 10.7% mean weight loss at 42 weeks, shares in both partners fell sharply as investors questioned whether the candidate can stand out in an increasingly crowded field.

Alfasigma bets up to $690M on GSK’s late-stage PBC itch drug ahead of FDA decision

Italian drugmaker Alfasigma has struck a licensing deal to take over global rights to linerixibat, GSK’s late-stage candidate for cholestatic pruritus in primary biliary cholangitis (PBC), in a transaction that could be worth up to $690 million to the British pharma group. Under the agreement, GSK will receive $300 million upfront, with additional regulatory and commercial milestones plus tiered double-digit royalties on worldwide sales.

UCB licenses Antengene’s ATG-201 in $1.1B autoimmune masked T-cell engager deal

UCB is adding a new kind of immune-cell weapon to its immunology arsenal. The Belgian biopharma said it has struck a global licensing deal with Hong Kong–based Antengene for ATG-201, a CD19/CD3 bispecific T-cell engager (TCE) designed to deplete B cells; an approach that has long been validated in autoimmune disease, but is now being re-engineered with next-generation biologics that promise deeper, more durable effects.