By Diagnostics World Staff
July 30, 2025 | Aqutal’s advance toward a therapy response prediction test in rheumatoid arthritis; Illimis Therapeutics plans to accelerate the development of GAIA-based Alzheimer's disease therapeutics and various immune disorders; and more.
$372.5M: Series D for Schizophrenia and Alzheimer’s Psychosis Treatment
MapLight Therapeutics announced an oversubscribed $372.5 million Series D financing. The funds will go into MapLight’s lead program, ML-007C-MA, an oral fixed-dose combination of the investigational M1/M4 muscarinic agonist, ML-007, co-formulated with a peripherally acting anticholinergic (PAC). MapLight will advance ML-007C-MA through ongoing Phase 2 trials for schizophrenia and Alzheimer's disease psychosis. The financing will also fund the exploration of other potential indications for ML-007C-MA, as well as the continued advancement of other clinical and preclinical pipeline programs.
$75.5M: Series A for Precision Radioligand Therapy
Actithera closed an oversubscribed $75.5 million Series A financing round. Proceeds will support clinical development of Actithera's fibroblast activation protein (FAP)-targeting candidate and pipeline expansion. The company's discovery platform combines rational drug design with radiochemistry to create novel small molecule radioligands that overcome current limitations in radiopharmaceutical development.
$54.5M: Seed Financing for Rare Kidney Condition
Renasant Bio has launched with a $54.5 million in seed financing. Renasant’s lead drug candidate, which is currently in preclinical testing, is a small molecule corrector the company hopes can work in patients with any of the wide range of mutations that cause autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD). While Renasant envisions this molecule working as a standalone treatment, it’s also developing a potentiator that could be used in tandem to prevent cysts from forming or growing in the kidney.
$45M: Series A for Universal Flu Vaccine
Centivax closed an oversubscribed $45 million Series A financing. The proceeds will fund Centivax's first clinical candidate, a universal flu vaccine, through a Phase I clinical trial slated to begin within eight months. The study will measure correlate-of-protection efficacy using the gold-standard hemagglutination inhibition (HAI) assay against a panel of more than twenty flu strains—including current 2024-2025 circulating strains, historical mismatch strains, and pandemic strains—in a direct head-to-head comparison with existing standard-of-care flu vaccines.
$42M: Series B for Alzheimer’s and Immune Disease Drug Development
Illimis Therapeutics completed a $42 million Series B financing. The proceeds will be used to accelerate the development of GAIA-based Alzheimer's disease therapeutics, expand its target indications to various immune disorders, and broaden its pipeline of potential blockbuster drug candidates. The company is actively pursuing early-stage collaborations with global pharmaceutical companies and research institutions to add value to internal programs.
$35M: Series A for First Full-Length Single-Molecule Protein Sequencer
Portal Biotech has raised $35 million in Series A financing. Portal Biotech’s nanopore-based platform technology delivers rapid, full-length, single-molecule protein characterization at the point of need, empowering earlier go/no-go decisions, more reliable diagnostics, and stronger biosecurity responsiveness worldwide. Coupled with advanced AI methods, this data gives researchers a detailed view into the complexities of the proteome that traditional technologies do not provide. These funds will fast-track Portal Biotech’s commercialization roadmap, deepen collaborations with leading pharmaceutical and biotech innovators, and expand its R&D, engineering, and data-science teams.
$30M: Series B for Therapy Response Prediction Test for Rheumatoid Arthritis
Aqtual raised $31 million in Series B funding. The funds will be used to advance Aqutal’s platform and its applications as it moves toward the commercialization of the company’s first flagship product: a therapy response prediction test in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Aqtual is actively enrolling RA patients in a prospective observational clinical trial, PRIMA-102 (ID NCT05936970). The trial has delivered initial proof-of-concept data and is expected to be completed in Q4 2025.
$24.6M: Seed Funding for Left Ventricular Hypertrophy in Chronic Kidney Disease
EvlaBio closed its $24.6 million seed funding round. The financing will support the advancement of EvlaBio’s lead program, a first-in-class therapeutic monoclonal antibody targeting specifically the FGF23/FGFR4 signaling in the setting of CKD, one of the key drivers for LVH, which can lead to heart failure.
$23M: Series B for Heart Failure Therapy
Restore Medical closed a $23 million Series B financing round. The round will fund the completion of Restore Medical's ongoing European feasibility study, which has demonstrated promising long-term safety and efficacy data, including meaningful improvements in ventricular reverse remodeling, hemodynamic performance, and patient functional capacity. The investment will also support the launch of a US-based clinical study, following the Breakthrough Device Designation granted by the US Food and Drug Administration in 2024.
$17.6M: Series A for Clinical Single Cell Profiling
One Biosciences announced $17.6 million Series A financing. One Biosciences technology creates detailed functional profiles of patient tumors, unlocking insights that may drive better clinical decision-making, patient selection, therapy development, and potentially optimizing clinical trials. Proceeds from the financing will accelerate the clinical development of One Biosciences' flagship OneMap platform and support the scaling of strategic partnerships with pharmaceutical and biotech companies.
$14M: Series D for Imaging Technology
MAUI Imaging announced $14 million in a Series D round. The funds will be allocated to support the production, sales, and marketing of the company's Computed Echo Tomography-based imaging technology. MAUI Imaging has created a novel and effective approach to diagnostic imaging resultant in a cross between ultrasound and CT without the need for dangerous ionizing radiation (x-rays). The company is currently delivering devices to initial users.
$9M: Series A for Clinical Program for Retinopathy of Prematurity
FELIQS announced a $9 million Series A funding round. This investment will enable FELIQS to accelerate the clinical development of FLQ-101, its lead candidate for the prevention of retinopathy of prematurity (ROP). FLQ-101 is a once-daily oral or intravenous solution designed to enhance physiological retinal vascularization and protect against inflammation and abnormal neovascularization. The Phase 1b/2 tROPhy-1 study is scheduled to commence in the summer of 2025 in the US. In 2024, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted FLQ-101 both Fast Track and Orphan Drug designations, recognizing its potential to address a significant unmet medical need in neonatal care.
$7.5M: Series A for Radioligand Theranostics
Primo Biotechnology Co. has completed its $7.5 million Series A funding round. Primo is accelerating its path in radioligand theranostics. The company also revealed plans to launch its IPO in 2026, leveraging public market resources to expand R&D capabilities and international reach. Primo obtained official authorization from ABX advanced biochemical compounds GmbH, a global leader in radiopharmaceuticals, to become the manufacturing and distribution partner in Taiwan for the prostate cancer diagnostic radiopharmaceutical "Radelumin ([18F]PSMA-1007)."
$5.5M: Seed Funding for Pharma AI Agents
Argon AI has raised $5.5 million in seed funding. As internal data at pharmaceutical companies rapidly increases, the need to find new ways to translate that information into insights is needed more than ever. With Argon AI, teams can build customized AI agents that automate tasks, such as end-to-end Primary Market Research, competitive tracking, clinical trial benchmarking, healthcare provider insight analysis, and strategic market landscapes. With the funds, Argon plans to expand its team, deepen product capabilities, and scale adoption across enterprise biopharma.