Fore Biotherapeutics raises another $38M for cancer drug trial, bringing its latest round to $113M
Philly life sciences companies are still seeing massive raises, despite analyst chatter about the sector's shortcomings.
Biotech company Fore Biotherapeutics brought in $38 million, the second installment to a later-stage round that began in 2023.
Local orgs are also getting funding to expand tech education and job training in Philadelphia and beyond. Tech education nonprofit Hopeworks received a $1.2 million grant to expand its workforce development programming to two new cities on the East Coast.
Plus, developers received $30 million from the state to continue creating manufacturing and commercialization space at the Navy Yard, which will hopefully eventually lead to business attraction and job creation, a partner organization said.
Get all the details on the latest money moves below the chart, where we look at the top 10 companies hiring for tech jobs in the Philadelphia market and how that's changed since the previous month.
Life sciences giant Fore Biotherapeutics rakes in another massive round
University City-based biotech company Fore Biotherapeutics raised $38 million, it announced last week. The company develops therapies for cancer, specifically a treatment called plixorafenib. The funding will advance a phase two clinical trial for the drug called the FORTE Master Protocol.
'We are well-positioned to continue our capitally efficient execution and make significant strides in delivering the ongoing FORTE Master Protocol,' said William Hinshaw, CEO of Fore. 'As we look to multiple anticipated interim analyses and clinical data supporting potential registration under the accelerated approval pathway, with FDA submissions potentially at the end of next year.'
This round was an extension of its $75 million Series D in 2023, meaning the round now totals $113 million.
Hopeworks plans expansion thanks to $1.2M grant
Tech education and workforce development organization Hopeworks received a $1.2 million grant from the Hg Foundation earlier this month. Over the next three years, the grant will help expand the nonprofit's reach to two new cities: Newark, New Jersey, and an undetermined second location.
The plan is to expand to Newark first, Dan Rhoton, CEO of Hopeworks, told Technical.ly. The plan for the second location is to target somewhere along the I-95 corridor, likely in Delaware or Maryland. But Hopeworks isn't in a rush to move forward with this expansion, it wants to make sure the program in Newark is solid before moving forward, he said.
'We don't need Hopeworks to be in 20 cities,' he said. 'We need young adults to get their lives changed. That's the really important part.'
Hopeworks' model provides trauma-informed tech training and paid work opportunities to young adults with the goal of getting young adults from low-income backgrounds into sustainable, well-paying careers.
The organization started in Camden in 1999 and expanded to Kensington in 2022. In those locations, it offers programs in web design, geographic information services, data analytics and business. Only the web design program will be expanding to the new cities.
'We continue to prove that young adults in Camden, Kensington and now maybe Newark are the folks who can fill the jobs you need,' Rhoton said. 'It's changing the conversation about where you go looking for talent.'
DCED awards $30M to the Philly Navy Yard
The Shapiro administration awarded $30 million to real estate developers Ensemble/Mosaic Navy Yard to build the Navy Yard Greenway District. This money comes from the Pennsylvania Strategic Investments to Enhance Sites program run by the Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED), which awarded $64 million to 11 projects throughout the state in its first round.
The funding will specifically be used for utility infrastructure, soil excavation, grading and stormwater management to eventually turn 700,000 square feet into advanced manufacturing and commercialization space.
'[The funding] will help attract new businesses, support the expansion of our life sciences and advanced manufacturing industries, and create hundreds of good-paying jobs across a wide range of skill and educational levels,' said Jodie Harris, president of the Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation, which partners with Ensemble/Mosaic.
More money moves:
The Montgomery County Investment Development Authority plans to commit $500,000 to the Montco Made Investment Initiative, a partnership with Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania.
King of Prussia-based fintech company PowerPay closed a $400 million 'committed warehouse facility,' which means the company can borrow up to that amount to fund its customers' loans.
The DCED awarded $2 million to venture capital firm Neovate Life Sciences through the Ben Franklin Technology Development Authority. This funding will be invested in life sciences companies in Pennsylvania.
Governor Josh Shapiro's 2025 to 2026 budget proposes $50 million for a new PA Innovation program. This is broken down into a $30 million initiative to expand life sciences job growth and $20 million to support large-scale innovation.
2025 RealLIST Startup Civic received a $50,000 grant from the Draper Foundation through the Wharton Bridge Fund, the company told Technical.ly.
Biotech company Nuevocor, which is based in Singapore but has its US headquarters in Montgomery County, raised a $45 million Series B round.
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