News roundup 29 October 2018

Big deal: Novartis picks up Endocyte for $2.1bn
Endocyte emerged out of Purdue University in 1996, completed an initial public offering in 2011 and has now agreed to an acquisition by Novartis worth $2.1bn.
CuraSen lures Johnson & Johnson to series A
Johnson & Johnson was among the investors in a $54.5m series A round for CuraSen Therapeutics, which is commercialising research from Stanford University.
Tarhan to retire from UCLB
Cengiz Tarhan will step down from his role as managing director of UCL Business at the end of this month, 25 years after he established tech transfer office.
Qpex tackles $33m series A
Qpex has raised $33m in series A funding from Stanford University Draper Fund and others after spinning out of the Medicines Company to develop drugs targeting superbugs.
Raremark makes $3.9m impression
Cass Entrepreneurship Fund has returned to back a $3.9m funding round for Raremark, which is working on delivering precision medicine for patients suffering from rare diseases.
PhaseBio finds $46m in initial public offering
Orphan disease drug developer PhaseBio Pharmaceuticals, which is commercialising research from Duke University, cut the price of its shares sharply pre-offering.
SkyDeck to process semiconductor startups
UC Berkeley SkyDeck has partnered TSMC, Cadence and SiFive to launch an accelerator track aimed at semiconductor technology developers called Chip Track.
Split Bio sequences $1.2m seed round
University of Washington has established RNA sequencing technology developer Split Biosciences, which has raised $1.2m in seed funding from unnamed investors.
Glycotest examines $10m series A
Fosun Pharma has committed series A funding to Glycotest, a liver disease diagnostics developer based on research at Baruch S. Blumberg Institute and Drexel University.
Microbiotica digests $5.2m investment
Seventure Partners has injected $5.2m into the Sanger Institute spinout, which has now raised $15.2m from investors also including IP Group and Cambridge Innovation Capital.
ZoneFox enters Fortinet perimeter
Fortinet has acquired Edinburgh Napier spinout ZoneFox for an undisclosed sum and will integrate the company’s machine learning technology into its own cybersecurity offering.
Basel Inkubator to close its doors
Basel Inkubator, created by University of Basel and University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland, is winding down as the universities rethink their spinout support.
Kumovis prints seed round
HTGF has participated in a seed round for Kumovis, a spinout of Technical University of Munich that is working on 3D printers for medical technology.
Investors pump $20m into Gauss
Stanford-StartX Fund’s portfolio company Gauss Surgical has received series C funding from SoftBank and eight healthcare providers.
Enable Injections sets up $50m series B
Ohio Innovation Fund has returned to support a first series B tranche for Enable Injections, which is targeting a $50m final close.
KU-iCap progresses into China
Kyoto University Innovation Capital is partnering Infinite Capital Holding as part of efforts to let spinouts conduct clinical trials in China.
Hard Yaka swings behind Yoyo Wallet for $30m
Hard Yaka has supplied $30m in funding to IP Group’s portfolio company Yoyo Wallet as part of a strategic partnership.
Brightlands Agrifood Ventures harvests $22.7m
The fund will invest in agritech companies connected to Brightlands, an ecosystem backed by Maastricht University, Zuyd University of Applied Sciences and Fontys University of Applied Sciences.