July 16 Quick Takes: Biotech stocks fare worse than others in STAR tumble; plus BioAtla, Exalys, Virometix, Biose, Spirea

Biotechs on STAR suffer amid broader sell-off
As concerns about the COVID-19 outbreak and a mixed recovery outlook rattled stocks traded in Shanghai, biotech stocks on the STAR exchange generally fared worse than the Shanghai Composite Index’s 4.5% downturn on Thursday. Bio-Thera Solutions Ltd. (Shanghai:688177), Shenzhen Chipscreen Biosciences Co. Ltd. (Shanghai:688321), Sinocelltech Ltd. (Shanghai:688520), BrightGene Bio-medical technology Co. Ltd. (Shanghai:688166), Shanghai Medicilon Inc. (Shanghai:688202) and Beijing Hotgen Biotech Co. Ltd. (Shanghai:688068) all slipped by 7-12%.

BioAtla raises $72.5M series D
BioAtla Inc. raised $72.5 million in a series D financing round co-led by Soleus Capital and new investor HBM Healthcare Investments, with participation from existing investor Pfizer Ventures and new investors Cormorant Asset Management, Farallon Capital Management LLC, Pappas Capital LLC, funds managed by Janus Henderson, Boxer Capital and one other institutional investor. BioAtla’s conditionally active biologics use physiological and metabolic conditions found in the tumor microenvironment to either deliver therapies or activate an immune response in specific locations...