> Oryzon (BME:ORY) took on €10.5 million ($12.1 million) in debt financing. The money brings the total raised by Oryzon since it embarked on a pre-IPO fundraising drive in July up to €27 million. With the cash now in its coffers, Oryzon is financially equipped to push ahead with clinical development of its in-house pipeline assets, which include a Phase I Alzheimer’s disease candidate. If the study yields positive data, Oryzon plans to move the drug into Phase II in the first half of next year. Release
> C4X Discovery (LON:C4XD) named Clive Dix as CEO. Dix, who joined C4XD in 2014 as nonexecutive chairman before becoming executive chairman late last year, has a track record of leading companies to trade sales. Most notably, Dix was at the helm of Convergence Pharmaceuticals when it accepted a $675 million buyout bid from Biogen ($BIIB). At C4XD, Dix inherits a company that is on the cusp of advancing its lead candidate into the clinic. The candidate, an oral orexin-1 antagonist for treating addiction, is set to start Phase I later this year. Statement
> Vaximm began a Phase IIa trial of its colorectal cancer vaccine. The Swiss-German biotech will give the oral T cell vaccine to 24 patients with metastatic colorectal cancer whose disease has advanced following one or two prior lines of treatment. Vaximm is primarily aiming to assess the safety and tolerability of its vaccine, although it will also gather data on the immunological response to the product. Release
> BioCancell Therapeutics (TLV:BICL) raised $6 million (€5.2 million) from U.S. investors. The financing is the first of several actions planned by the Israeli biotech to bring in the cash it needs to run a Phase III trial of its lead candidate in bladder cancer. BioCancell is looking to add to its funds through a private placement and, in the longer term, has ambitions to list on Nasdaq, although it acknowledges this is unlikely for now. “We hope that by the time we reach the market, it will be more open,” BioCancell Chairman Dr. Aharon Schwartz told Globes. Article
> Bicycle Therapeutics padded its ranks with more exiles from Big Pharma. Michael Skynner swapped a position as the head of Pfizer’s ($PFE) European rare disease activities for the VP of operations role at Bicycle. The move reunites Skynner with Kevin Lee, who left his own post at the head of Pfizer’s rare disease operation for the CEO job at Bicycle last year. Skynner is joined at Bicycle by another pair of new hires. Alan Watt, whose résumé lists spells at GlaxoSmithKline ($GSK), has taken up the role of VP of therapeutics, while Gillian Langford is now heading up clinical and project management. Release
> Isarna Therapeutics posted an interim look at data from a Phase I trial of its advanced glaucoma program. The study has completed the first three of four dose levels without detecting any treatment-associated adverse events, serious adverse events or dose-limiting toxicities. “The positive interim data of our first Phase I trial in advanced glaucoma represent a significant step forward for our company,” Isarna CEO Philippe Calais said in a statement. “We look forward to advancing this program further and to expanding our Ophthalmology program to other eye diseases by 2017.” Release