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Vima raises $100M Series A & CNS Pharma abandons its glioblastoma pipeline

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Joachim Eeckhout & Eduardo Longoria
March 12, 2026

Good morning! Cancer immunotherapy keeps widening its toolkit and Salspera is betting engineered salmonella could be part of it. In its newly filed IPO plans, the biotech said it aims to raise up to $91 million to move saltikva, its bacteria-based lead therapy, into phase 3 for stage 4 pancreatic cancer. The treatment uses a modified strain of salmonella designed to express IL-2, with the goal of boosting immune cell activity against tumors.

Why it matters: Bacteria-based therapies remain a highly differentiated corner of oncology. With pancreatic cancer still one of the hardest markets in cancer medicine, Salspera is asking public investors to back a distinctly nontraditional therapeutic approach.

Bottom line: Even if biotech IPO sentiment appears to be thawing after a quiet 2025, this one will be testing whether investors are ready to fund a high-risk oncology story.

— Joachim E.

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SNAPSHOT

Vima takes a big step with a $100M Series A for a drug restoring movement control

Vima Therapeutics has secured $100M in Series A funding to advance VIM0423, an oral drug designed to help people with dystonia and Parkinson’s disease regain control of movement.

Why it matters: Movement disorders can severely impact quality of life, with an estimated 160,000 Americans suffering from isolated dystonia, a condition causing chronic and involuntary muscle spasms and an even greater number experiencing it as a symptom of Parkinson’s. An effective daily pill, especially for isolated dystonia, which lacks FDA-approved oral therapies, could significantly expand treatment options.

Backstory: Vima, named for the Greek word to stride, was incubated by Atlas Ventures more than three years ago. CEO Bernard Ravina, a neurologist, previously worked at Praxis Precision Medicines and Voyager Therapeutics.

Big picture: Neurology drug development is often risky due to uncertain biological mechanisms. Vima believes its approach targets a well-validated pathway, potentially improving the odds of success in a field where many experimental therapies fail late in development.

Zoom in: Vima’s drug, VIM0423, selectively targets muscarinic cholinergic receptors, which regulate neurological functions including motor control. Older drugs affecting these receptors, such as trihexyphenidyl, can help with symptoms but often have poor tolerability. VIM0423 combines mechanisms intended to improve safety and pharmacological performance.

What’s next: Vima plans to move VIM0423 into mid-stage clinical trials for dystonia and Parkinson’s disease, with trial results expected in 2027.

SNIPPETS

What’s happening in biotech today?

🤝 Partner hunt: CNS Pharmaceuticals is abandoning its glioblastoma pipeline and seeking partners to take over its only two assets, berubicin and TPI 287, as part of a strategic reset under new leadership. The company will allow an ongoing phase 2 trial of berubicin in recurrent glioblastoma to finish by July but will not further develop TPI 287, a taxane derivative that had been planned for a phase 2 study. With these exits, CNS plans to acquire new preclinical or clinical drug candidates in neurology or oncology that have clear upcoming value milestones and address major unmet medical needs. Despite the shift, the company says no layoffs are planned and intends to grow under its newly assembled executive team.

🚫 Glue gone: Molecular glue biotech f5 Therapeutics is shutting down after six years, with CEO Gary Choy citing a difficult funding environment for early-stage biotech companies. Despite support from investors such as Viva BioInnovator and recognition from pharma partner Servier, the small California company employing about 10 people was unable to sustain operations. f5 had been developing its NExMods platform to discover molecular glue therapeutics across areas including oncology, immunology, fibrosis and neurodegeneration, and also explored antibody-drug conjugates, but none of its programs progressed beyond in vivo studies.

💊 Pharma beats: UCB’s IL-17 inhibitor Bimzelx has shown statistically significant superiority over AbbVie’s IL-23 inhibitor Skyrizi in a phase 3b trial involving 553 adults with active psoriatic arthritis, achieving the primary endpoint of ACR50 at week 16, which measures a 50% improvement in joint and disease symptoms. The result marks the first time an approved therapy has outperformed an IL-23 inhibitor in psoriatic arthritis and adds to Bimzelx’s growing list of head-to-head wins against major drugs such as Cosentyx, Stelara and Humira in psoriasis studies. The drug’s momentum is already strong, with sales rising to €2.2 billion in 2025 and helping drive a 26% revenue increase for UCB.

🏭 Obesity buildout: Eli Lilly plans to invest $3 billion in China over the next decade to expand manufacturing and supply chain capacity ahead of a potential approval of its oral GLP-1 weight-loss drug orforglipron. The investment includes expanding incretin injection production at Lilly’s Suzhou facility, adding oral dosage manufacturing in Beijing, and partnering with local manufacturers such as CDMO Pharmaron in a $200 million collaboration. Lilly submitted orforglipron for regulatory review in China for type 2 diabetes and obesity at the end of 2025 and is scaling global production in anticipation of strong demand, with forecasts suggesting the drug could reach $13 billion in annual sales by 2031.

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