Weekly Scoop #105

Genentech strikes breast cancer deal worth up to $515M with Astex Pharmaceuticals 💊

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Genentech has entered a collaboration with UK-based Astex worth up to $515M - $25M upfront and up to $490M in milestones - to partner on a fragment-based drug discovery programme targeting an undisclosed protein in breast cancer. Astex's Pyramid platform has already produced several approved cancer drugs including Kisqali and Truqap, both breast cancer treatments. The programme emerged from an earlier collaboration with Newcastle University and Cancer Research UK's innovation arm Cancer Research Horizons.

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"Genentech's focus on embracing innovation, its expertise in oncology and its longstanding dedication to innovation for breast cancer patients makes [it] an excellent partner for this collaboration."

— Michelle Jones, President, Astex Pharmaceuticals

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ONTO Health acquires LEVY Health to scale fertility diagnostics across the US and GCC 🧬

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Aeroflow Health has acquired Canopie, a digital health company delivering virtual preventative care programmes for expecting and new mothers, with a focus on mental health and physical wellness. The deal builds on a partnership dating back to 2022 and gives Aeroflow's 1.7 million annual maternal health patients access to integrated mental health support alongside its existing lactation supplies, feeding support and perinatal education. Over a third of US counties are considered maternity care deserts, and nearly 60% of women with perinatal mental health conditions never receive a diagnosis.

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"This acquisition will aid in scaling our mission. With LEVY Health's clinically grounded and superior diagnostics capabilities, we are providing practices with the tools they need to integrate low-complexity fertility care into their existing models, creating a truly distributed and collaborative care ecosystem."

— Roohi Jeelani, Co-Founder & CEO, ONTO Health

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Materna Medical closes $5M B3 round to advance pelvic health device toward launch 🤱

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The round, led by InnovaHealth Partners, Wavemaker360 Health and Band of Angels, will fund the readout of Materna's EASE pivotal trial and preparations for the commercial launch of the Ellora Obstetrical System - an investigational device designed to reduce pelvic floor muscle injury during vaginal delivery in first-time mothers. A new ICD-10-PCS reimbursement code for Ellora is already active, clearing a key market access hurdle ahead of launch.

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“We are thrilled to be entering this next phase as we prepare for the Ellora launch, bringing an important innovation to women’s health,”

— Tracy MacNeal, President & CEO, Materna Medical

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Oova integrates with ŌURA to connect hormone data with sleep and recovery tracking 💍

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Oova has launched a new integration with ŌURA that allows users to sync sleep and readiness data from the smart ring directly alongside daily hormone patterns and symptom tracking. For the first time, women can see how hormonal shifts interact with sleep quality, mood and recovery on a single timeline - moving beyond isolated data streams to a connected picture of their health. The integration builds on Oova's clinical research linking estrogen patterns, sleep and anxiety in perimenopause, presented at ACOG and published in Obstetrics & Gynecology.

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"Wearables have become remarkably good at telling women what happened. But most women are still left wondering why. By bringing hormone data, symptom tracking, and wearable insights together, we're helping women understand the biological patterns behind how they feel."

— Amy Divaraniya, Founder & CEO, Oova

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Applications open for W Accelerate with Merck KGaA and M Ventures 🚀

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W Group has opened applications for the third edition of W Accelerate with Merck KGaA and M Ventures, focused this year on reproductive and maternal health. Selected companies pitch on 5 October in London, with the opportunity to secure strategic partnerships, investment and commercial growth through direct access to Merck and M Ventures leadership. New this year: three distinct pathways - Partnership Lane, Investment Lane, and Dual Lane - matched to each company's priorities. Applications close 2 September.

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“Women's health has proven it can attract capital and produce venture-scale outcomes. The question now is whether the ecosystem can build the infrastructure to turn promising science into real partnerships at scale. That's what W Accelerate exists to do. Bringing Merck and M Ventures back for a third time, around innovation in reproductive and maternal health, is exactly the kind of connection that moves this industry from momentum to lasting change.”

— Nathan Edwards, Founder, W Group

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Muun Health receives €700k grant to advance continuous hormone monitoring biosensor 🔬

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Estonian femtech company Muun Health has been awarded a €700,000 grant from Enterprise Estonia to advance the bioselective layer of its Smart Patch Platform - the component that allows the wearable biosensor to accurately detect target hormones from interstitial fluid. The grant forms part of a €1M project overall and will support integration of the system, performance testing and preparation for clinical validation. Current hormone monitoring relies on blood tests or indirect estimates; Muun's goal is continuous, real-time measurement from a wearable patch.

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"We measure steps, sleep and glucose continuously, yet some of the most important signals in women's health are still captured through occasional snapshots. This funding allows us to tackle one of the hardest scientific challenges behind continuous hormone monitoring and move closer to giving women and their clinicians access to a much clearer picture of hormonal change over time."

— Kerli Luks, Founder, Muun Health

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Intu Diagnostics raises €1.1M to advance lab-free HPV testing platform 🧪

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The Leipzig-based diagnostics spinout from Fraunhofer Society has closed a €1.1M strategic bridge round backed by BSV Ventures and the Saxonian Development Bank, bringing total funding to over €3M. Intu's pocket-sized, power-free platform is designed to deliver molecular-level diagnostic quality without lab infrastructure - starting with HPV testing in women's health. Proceeds will go toward IP protection, pilot manufacturing and preparation for an upcoming seed round.

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