> Celyad ($CYAD) started enrolling a second cohort of patients into a clinical trial of its NKG2D CAR-T therapy. The Belgian biopharma got the green light to start the second wave of recruitment after the first cohort experienced no treatment-related safety issues in the 30 days after taking the therapy. Celyad expects to have data from the 12-person Phase I study by the middle of next year, at which time the company will start to gain an understanding of the potential of the assets it acquired in its takeover of OnCyte. Release
> Nicox outlicensed the U.S. rights to its anti-inflammatory program to Fera Pharmaceuticals in a $35 million (€33 million) deal. The agreement gives Fera responsibility for advancing the drug toward a NDA in the U.S., potentially as a treatment for the symptoms of osteoarthritis. Nicox has already wrapped up several Phase III trials of the drug. But with Fera doing all of the heavy lifting needed to bring the asset to market in the U.S., none of the money is being handed over upfront. Release
> London, U.K.-based NightstaRx raised $35 million (€33 million) to broaden its pipeline and fund the advance of its lead candidate through a mid-phase trial. NightstaRx picked up the money on the back of a Phase I trial of its lead candidate, in which the gene therapy improved the eyesight of people with choroideremia, a genetic form of progressive blindness. The company is looking to follow up on this early success by licensing 5 more programs from the University of Oxford, which it spun out of last year. FierceBiotech
> Crossject landed €6.7 million ($7.2 million) to support the development of three drugs. Bpifrance doled out the money in the form of a refundable grant under its Industrial Projects of the Future program. Crossject will use the cash to develop versions of off-patent treatments for overdoses of painkillers, epileptic seizures and certain symptoms of Parkinson's disease. Each program will use the needle-free technology developed by Crossject, potentially making the drugs more suitable for use in emergency situations than other formulations of the same active ingredients. Release
> Oryzon Genomics dosed the first patient in an extension of its Phase I trial. The study is looking at the efficacy of ORY-1001 in acute myeloid leukemia patients. Roche ($RHHBY) licensed the drug as part of the $500 million (€466 million) deal it struck with the Catalan biotech last year. Having taken the drug through the dose-escalation stage of the Phase I trial, Oryzon is now ready to look for signs efficacy. Release
> Kuros Biosurgery added CHF 5 million ($5 million) to its financing round. The second closing of the round brings the total raised by Kuros in the financing event up to CHF 20 million. An undisclosed mix of new and existing investors participated in the latest fundraising, which gives Kuros the cash to advance its orthobiologics product into late-phase clinical testing. Release