Top 10 Private Biopharma Financings in April 2024

In April 2024, the top 10 private biopharma financing rounds totaled more than $2 billion, and more than half came from just two companies: Xaira Therapeutics and Metsera. Here's the backstory.

Xaira Therapeutics launched on April 23, 2024 to pursue AI-enabled drug discovery, with more than $1 billion in committed capital. Its founding CEO, Marc Tessier-Lavigne, was formerly CSO of Genentech and president of Stanford.

Xaira's investor base consisted of traditional biopharma investors as well as some big names known more for their work in tech, including Sequoia, Lightspeed, and Menlo Ventures. [Source 1]

Meanwhile, Metsera launched on April 18, 2024 with $290 million in financing in another active area: weight loss.

At launch, the company's GLP-1 portfolio was led by an injectable in Phase 1 trials, alongside an oral peptide delivery platform with two IND-ready candidates. These were development-stage programs, not approved medicines.

ARCH Venture Partners participated in both the Xaira and Metsera financings.

The announcements show substantial backing for AI-enabled discovery and metabolic disease research within this group. They do not establish the funding trend for the biopharma industry as a whole. [Source 1] [Source 2]

Methodology: Financing amounts need separate treatment: SynOx announced a $75 million Series B on April 22 and a separate loan facility of up to $35 million on April 30. The facility is not another $35 million of equity or evidence that the full amount was drawn. Endeavor’s $132.5 million Series C included conversion of a $5 million convertible instrument. Metsera’s April launch announcement reported $290 million raised without stating that all of it closed in April. [Source 1] [Source 2] [Source 3] [Source 4]