Two early‑stage biotechs closed sizable financings to advance novel modalities: Nilo Therapeutics launched with $101 million to translate neuro‑immune circuit biology into therapeutics that restore immune homeostasis, and Gate Bioscience raised $65 million to push its ‘molecular gate’ small‑molecule degraders toward first‑in‑human studies. Nilo — founded by leaders from Columbia, Yale and Harvard labs — aims to modulate vagal and central circuits identified as systemic immune regulators. Gate’s platform targets unconventional protein degradation mechanisms for immune and CNS diseases. Both rounds drew VC and strategic participation, underscoring investor appetite for mechanistically novel interventions beyond standard biologics. The financings will fund preclinical development, expand discovery teams, and enable IND‑enabling work. Early translational benchmarks and clear translational paths to patient populations will determine whether these novel approaches can be de‑risked for clinic entry.