Weekly roundup: Huge fundraisings, patents approved, award winners and more. Next up Genesis 2025!

What an incredible few days at Jefferies & London Life Science Week! 🎉 A huge thank you to Jefferies, the BioIndustry Association (BIA), MedCity, and London & Partners for hosting this goliath event. It gets bigger, better and more impactful every year, and we’re proud to be part of it.

We are glad so many of you found the Optimum and Catalyst Advisors LP fringe events schedule helpful! It is still available here [https://lnkd.in/e5VU5WGp], if you need a reminder of what happened and when!

Sofinnova Partners closed its €650M ($750M) Capital XI fund, greatly exceeding the initial target, to back early-stage healthcare deals

The close, which is the largest in Sofinnova Partners’s history, brings the total capital raised across its platform to €1.5Bn over the past year, signifying enduring confidence in the firm’s strategy and exemplary track record. Sofinnova Capital XI is actively investing in early-stage biotech and medtech companies across Europe and the US.

Poolbeg Pharma plc – POLB 001 European Patent granted

Poolbeg Pharma (AIM: POLB), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company with a core focus on transforming the cancer immunotherapy field, announced that the European Patent Office has granted Poolbeg’s European Immunomodulator II patent application covering POLB 001 for the treatment of severe influenza.

Xeltis wins Medtech of the Year @ European Lifestars Awards

Congratulations to Optimum client Xeltis on winning Medtech of Year at this year’s European Lifestars Awards – Celebrating Life Science Leaders! Optimum’s own Zoe Bolt presented the award to CEO Eliane Schutte.

🎙️Optimum Perspectives Podcast

The latest episode of Optimum Perspectives Podcast is focussed on AMR in celebration of World Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) Awareness Week 2025 – observed from November 18 to 24, with the theme “Act Now: Protect Our Present, Secure Our Future.”

Expert guest Neil Murray, CEO of ReNewVax, gave a rallying cry –

“I see a lot of similarities between AMR and the whole climate change debate. Both have suffered from a view that it’s tomorrow’s problem – There will be many more than 5 million people a year dying from infectious disease, and it’s something that needs to be addressed right now.”

Hear from Jennifer Schneider of Centauri Therapeutics Limited, Dr. Franz-Werner Haas of LimmaTech Biologics AG and Neil Murray of ReNewVax Ltd on their unique approaches to tackling the threat of #AMR, in the latest episode of the Optimum Perspectives Podcast.

🔥Hot topic

The recent closing of two major life science funds, by leading European VCs Medicxi and Sofinnova Partners, together totalling more than €1 billion, bodes well for 2026. Read our latest #HotTopic here

Genesis Conference – 3rd December 2025

Optimum is thrilled to be joining the agenda at the 25th edition of One Nucleus’s Genesis Conference, taking place in London on 3rd December with a focus on – Maximising Returns from Life Science Innovation

Nicholas Bastin, MD of Optimum, will be chairing a fireside chat with the brilliant Olivia Cavlan of LifeArc Ventures, covering: What Has Surprised Us Most in the Past 25 Years?

Eva Haas , MD of Optimum, will be moderating the keynote panel – The Changing Life Science Investment Landscape

With larger deal sizes, is the gap between the haves and have nots widening?
Innovative business models vs investor appetite
Does founder diversity bring investment opportunity diversity?
Are capital pools on the move?

Panellists: Tim Davis, London Stock Exchange, Janette Thomas, Five Alarm Bio Limited, Soyoung Park, 1004 Venture Partners, Francesca Crawford, F.E.C. Bio, Kate Rowley, Symmetrist Ltd, Jenny Laird, Eli Lilly and Company.

That’s all folks!  To stay in the know – subscribe to Optimum’s weekly wrap-up today!

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