Private Company Edition: Newpath Partners’ second fund totals $350m, Merck KGaA committed €600m to M Ventures, Eir Ventures raised €122.3m and Breakout Ventures has $112.5m. Recent financings were led by SOTIO ($317.5m), Odyssey ($218m), Avistone ($200m) and Acepodia ($109m).

The series A fundraising will help Locana bring CRISPR gene editing to diseases with dysfunctional RNA. Artizan and OncoMyx are among the other firms with recent series A rounds.

Partnership will test Mustang’s MB-101 with a second-generation oncolytic HSV-1 virus for potential in treating brain cancer. Canadian biotech launched by CCAB to fight the same cancer.

The 2014 Heart Rhythm Society Scientific Sessions ended May 10 in San Francisco with a big study from Boston Scientific on the benefits of implantable cardioverter defibrillator remote monitoring, and data on a smartphone-enabled electrocardiogram and the use of a spinal stimulator for heart failure patients. Earlier in the meeting, data were reported on the success of pacemaker remote monitoring and other studies.