Biotech venture capital is risky business, inherently at the mercy of regulators and binary outcomes.

• Now it may face a new challenge in the form of Vinay Prasad, who this week was named to lead the FDA's Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research.

The big picture: Prasad's new role includes oversight of everything from vaccines to cell and gene therapies, and he believes that the FDA too often has acted as a rubber stamp for pharma (both big and small).

• He's even argued that eliminating the FDA would be preferable to the agency in its current form.
• Prasad softened this rhetoric in an introductory speech to the troops yesterday, but still is expected to significantly raise the bar for certain drug approvals.

By the numbers: Biotech was venture capital's second-busiest sector in 2024, behind software, with $26.2 billion of disbursements and a 12% market share, per PitchBook.

• A lot of these investors and startups already were worried about FDA staffing cuts.
• Prasad may add new layers of cost and uncertainty for biotechs that have active candidates in Phase 2 or Phase 3 trials.
• He also could cause some VCs to think twice about backing new startups — not only in areas he regulates, but even in downstream areas like pharma services.

🧠 Our thought bubble, from Axios Pro Deals biotech reporter Katherine Davis: "Many biotech startups, particularly developers of mRNA vaccines and gene therapies for rare diseases, rely on accelerated approval designations. These determine capital runways and may be in Prasad's crosshairs."

Yes, but: Prasad won't have oversight of cancer drugs, even though he's a trained hematologist oncologist who's also been critical of approvals in that area.

• Around 38% of biotech VC dollars last year went into startups that either are focused on oncology, or at least have oncology pipeline plans.

The bottom line: The math of biotech VC is about to change.

Nippon Telegraph & Telephone (Tokyo: 9432) is launching a $16.5 billion tender offer to buy the 42.3% stake it doesn't already hold in subsidiary NTT Data (T: 9613).

Why it's the BFD: This may help Japan move toward its dual goals of finding a national AI champion and simplifying its clunky conglomerates.

• It's also part of a broader Japanese M&A boom, with Q1 2025 deal volume up nearly 86% over Q1 2024.

Zoom in: Japan's government continues to own around one-third of NTT.

The bottom line: "A takeover of NTT Data, one of the world's largest data center operators, would put AI at the core of the group and give other units in the wide-ranging conglomerate additional reach overseas." — Bloomberg

🚑 Tobin Scientific, a Beverly, Mass.-based provider of biopharma logistics, raised $65m from Denali Growth Partners and Truck 9 Partners. tobinscientific.com

• Wonderskin, a London-based beauty brand, raised $50m in Series A funding led by Insight Partners. axios.link/43enp6G

• Infinite Uptime, an Indian provider of predictive maintenance and energy efficiency software for process industries, raised $35m. Avataar Ventures led, joined by StepStone Group, LGVP and insiders Tiger Global and GSR Ventures. axios.link/3FjdJiR

🚑 Koala Health, a Boston-based pet medication delivery group, raised $20m in Series B funding led by Valspring Capital. koala.health

🚑 Carta Healthcare, an SF-based provider of clinical data abstraction solutions, raised $18.25m in Series B-1 funding led by UPMC Enterprises. axios.link/3SpqZWl

• StackAI, an SF-based platform for helping enterprises to create custom AI agents, raised $16m in Series A funding led by Lobby VC. stack.ai

• Eyeo, a Dutch imaging startup, raised €15m in seed funding. Imec.expand and Invest-NL co-led, joined by HTGF and BOM. axios.link/4jL2r6o

• Jericho Security, a New York-based cybersecurity training platform, raised $15m in Series A funding. Era Fund led, joined by Lux Capital, Dash, Gaingels Enterprise, and Gaingels. axios.link/4k8DYrm

• Doubleword, a U.K.-based inference platform for enterprises raised £9m in Series A funding led by Dawn Capital. axios.link/3SntLeK

• Fuse Games, a Turkish mobile gaming studio, raised $7m. Griffin Gaming Partners led. joined by Lakestar, NFX Capital, and Actera also participated. axios.link/451oz7Q

🚑 CueZen, a digital health personalization startup, raised $5m in seed funding. Point72 Ventures led, joined by Pack VC, Fortson VC, and Nextinfinity. axios.link/42MasBT

🌎 Kind Designs, a Miami-based 3D-printer of seawalls, raised $5m in seed funding led by Overlay Capital with Mark Cuban participating. axios.link/3SpRJGd

🌎 Gardin, a U.K.-based precision ag startup, raised $4.5m. Navus Ventures led, joined by Oxford Innovation Finance and existing investors LDV Capital, MMC Ventures, Seedcamp, and Alchimia Investments. axios.link/3RPmvIq

• Operand, a startup trying to use AI to replace traditional management consultants, raised $3.1m in seed funding. Felicis led, joined by YC, SV Angel, and Soma Capital. operand.com

• BVNK, a stablecoin infrastructure startup, raised funding from Visa Ventures. axios.link/3GLINbJ

• Apax Partners completed its $687m tender offer for Norva24, a Swedish underground infrastructure maintenance company. axios.link/4jN2PkK

• Archer Review, a portfolio of Leeds Equity Partners, acquired Core Anesthesia, a podcast and app for nurse anesthetist education. archerreview.com

• HFW, a VSS Capital Partners portfolio company, acquired Southwest Engineers, a Texas-based civil engineering firm focused on water and wastewater. hfwcompanies.com

• Safety Marking, a portfolio company of Highview Capital, acquired Straight Line Industries, a Cohoes, N.Y.-based pavement marking firm. safetymarking.com

• Shamrock Capital invested in Neocol, a Chicago-based consultancy for go-to-market sales functions whose backers include Salesforce Ventures. neocol.com

• TPG and Corpay (NYSE: CPAY) agreed to buy Charlotte, N.C.-based payments firm AvidXChange (Nasdaq: AVDX) for $2.2b,. axios.link/44YLS24

• Valeas Capital Partners acquired Suntera Global, a Short Hills, N.J.-based fund administrator and wealth manager, from Palatine Private Equity. suntera.com

• Aspen Insurance, a Bermuda-based P&C insurer and reinsurer owned by Apollo, raised $398m in its IPO. It priced in the middle of its $29-$31 range, giving it a $2.8b market cap, and will list on the NYSE (AHL). axios.link/4iArLKH

🚑 Carousel Capital will restart the sale process for Palmetto Infusion Services, per Axios Pro. axios.link/44pbd5b

• ServiceNow (NYSE: NOW) agreed to acquire Data.World, an Austin, Texas-based data catalog and data governance platform that had raised more than $130m from firms like Alumni Ventures, Prologis Ventures, Vopak Ventures, and Shasta Ventures. axios.link/42M981T

• AppLovin (Nasdaq: APP) sold its mobile games business to Tripledot, a London-based gaming studio that's raised around $170m from firms like Eldridge Industries, The Raine Group, Lightspeed Venture Partners, and Access Industries. Considerations are $400m in cash and a 20% equity stake in Tripledot. axios.link/43iyODn

• Coinbase (Nasdaq: COIN) agreed to buy crypto options exchange Deribit for $2.9b, per the WSJ. axios.link/4d8gv7b

• The FTC lost its antitrust appeal over Microsoft's (Nasdaq: MSFT) $69b acquisition of gaming company Activision Blizzard, which closed in 2023.

• Nidec (Tokyo: 6594) withdrew its $1.6b hostile takeover bid for Makino Milling Machine (Tokyo: 6135). axios.link/437bc3t

• WeRide (Nasdaq: WRD), a Chinese self-driving tech company, raised $100m from existing backer Uber (NYSE: UBER). axios.link/436crQm

• Center Lane Partners, a New York-based PE firm, is raising its sixth fund, per an SEC filing.

• Rotunda Capital Partners, a Bethesda, Md.-based private equity firm, raised $735m for its fourth fund. rotundacapital.com

💊 Vivo Capital, a health-care VC firm in Silicon Valley, raised $740m in new fund capital. axios.link/3SuTe5S

• Nick Mouradian joined Bain Capital as a managing director of special situations. He previously was a partner with Coatue. axios.link/4iVBZ8X

Carlyle Group reported Q1 earnings this morning, and the highlight was more about the breakdown than the total.

• The firm's credit, secondaries, and capital markets businesses supplied 55% of fee-related earnings, topping core private equity. One year ago, those units represented around 40% of fee-related earnings, per Bloomberg.

The bottom line: This reflects CEO Harvey Schwartz's success in making Carlyle more of a multi-strategy firm, like its listed peers, and also how private credit is a lot hotter right now than is private equity.