ProFound partners with Gates Foundation in $35M preeclampsia target discovery pact 🤱
Flagship Pioneering's ProFound Therapeutics has formed a partnership with the Gates Foundation worth up to $35M - $20M upfront and $15M in milestone-contingent funding - to identify new drug targets for preeclampsia. Using its proprietary "dark proteome" platform, ProFound will compare placental tissue from women with and without preeclampsia to uncover novel biomarkers, then use agentic AI to map their functions before laboratory validation. Preeclampsia is a leading cause of maternal and fetal death globally, particularly in low-resource settings, yet its underlying biology remains poorly understood. ProFound has previously formed partnerships with Novartis, Pfizer and GSK.
“It's a very significant cause of both maternal and fetal death, particularly in the developing world, where there's not acute care opportunities. The Gates Foundation has a strong interest in ameliorating that horrendous situation. The problem is, despite being common, hardly anything is known about the pathogenesis.”
— John Lepore, CEO, ProFound
iPremom raises €15M seed to predict pregnancy complications from the first trimester 🧬
Valencia-based iPremom has raised €15M led by Amadeus Capital Partners, with Asabys Partners and APEX Ventures participating, to advance MaiRa - a blood test that detects molecular signals linked to preeclampsia, preterm birth, foetal growth restriction and gestational diabetes as early as 9 to 14 weeks into pregnancy. The platform has been developed using 26,000 samples from 10,000 pregnancies in Spain's PROSPAM study. It is currently available through iPremom's lab in Spain, with funding going toward EU and US regulatory submissions and commercial rollout. The company was co-founded by Professor Carlos Simón, who previously co-founded Igenomix, which transformed IVF genetics before its acquisition by Vitrolife.
“Pregnancy complications have been under-diagnosed and under-treated for generations, because the field was looking in the wrong place at the wrong time. Our ambition is not just to build a better preeclampsia test, it is to give every pregnant woman a comprehensive, early molecular picture of her pregnancy. This funding is a critical step toward making that a clinical reality.”
— Carlos Simón, Co-Founder & Chairman, iPremom
hVIVO acquires CRS Berlin to expand into dermatology and women's health clinical trials 🔬
UK-listed clinical development partner hVIVO has acquired CRS Clinical Research Services Berlin for a nominal upfront consideration of €0.025M, with a three-year revenue-based earnout expected to total ~€4M net. CRS Berlin has completed over 350 studies, specialises in Phase I/II trials in dermatology and women's health, and brings a €10M contracted orderbook plus long-standing relationships with two of the world's leading pharma companies. The deal extends hVIVO's wholly-owned German clinical network and broadens its addressable market.
“CRS Berlin strengthens the platform we are building for the next phase of hVIVO’s growth, adding specialist clinical trial expertise, broader participant recruitment reach and an established operational fit with our existing German network. This enhances our ability to deliver larger clinical trials across a wider range of therapeutic areas, while creating further cross-selling and commercial opportunities across our integrated service lines.”
— Yamin ‘Mo’ Khan, Chief Executive Officer, hVIVO
Ark Surgical secures further institutional backing to accelerate US expansion of LapBox 🏥
Israeli women's health medtech Ark Surgical has received renewed funding from JNF and the Israel Innovation Authority - both existing investors - as part of its ongoing Series A, which has also attracted physician and medical device executive investors. The backing supports the US commercial expansion of LapBox, its FDA-cleared dual-wall tissue containment system for minimally invasive gynaecologic surgery. Procedures such as hysterectomy and myomectomy require tissue morcellation, which carries a risk of disseminating tissue - and in rare cases malignant cells - within the abdominal cavity. LapBox has already been used in hundreds of procedures across US hospitals.
"Having organisations that already know Ark, our technology and our team choose to support us again is particularly meaningful. It reflects our ability to consistently achieve the clinical, regulatory and commercial milestones we set and gives us additional resources to accelerate our expansion in the US. Our ambition goes beyond bringing another medical device to market. We want to help establish a higher standard of surgical safety for women undergoing minimally invasive procedures.”
— Stav Tori, CEO, Ark Surgical
KOVE Medical raises CHF 1.6M seed to advance preterm birth prevention device to human trials 🧪
University of Zurich spinout KOVE Medical has raised CHF 1.6M (~$1.8M) in angel funding to progress its implantable device designed to reduce preterm birth risk following foetal surgery. Fetoscopy - minimally invasive surgery performed inside the womb - requires perforation of the uterine wall and amniotic sac, which can weaken the membrane and lead to amniotic fluid leakage and premature birth. KOVE's device closes the surgical defect at the end of the procedure, stabilising the membrane. The funding will support progression to First-in-Human trials.
