START-UPS
ANOTHER STRONG YEAR FOR EARLY-STAGE BIOTECH INVESTMENT
Lofty biotech launches covered CRISPR, the microbiome, and more
Life sciences-focused venture capital firms poured significant cash into the drug industry in 2017. Sizable first fundraising rounds for research-driven biotech companies continued, with a handful of platform-based drug discovery companies raking in a ton of cash. Among the notable trends was firms’ attempts to “drug the undruggable”—finding nontraditional ways to access difficult targets. For example, venture-backed companies are using small molecules to block RNA, developing next-generation cellular therapies that can tackle solid tumors, and designing bifunctional small molecules that force unwanted proteins to break down.—LISA JARVIS
Kymera Therapeutics Series A funding: $30 million Focus: Targeted protein degradation Notable funder: Atlas Venture
Frequency Therapeutics Series A funding: $32 million Focus: Hearing loss restoration Notable funder: Cobro Ventures
Disarm Therapeutics Series A funding: $30 million Focus: SARM1 inhibitors Notable funders: Atlas Venture, Lighthouse Ventures, AbbVie Ventures
LifeMine Therapeutics Series A funding: $55 million Focus: Fungal genome mining Notable funder: WuXi Healthcare Ventures Notable academic founder: Greg Verdine
Vividion Therapeutics Series A funding: $50 million Focus: Chemical proteomics-based drug discovery Notable funders: Arch Venture, Versant Ventures Notable academic founders: Benjamin Cravatt, Phil Baran, JinQuan Yu
SpringWorks Therapeutics
KSQ Therapeutics
Series A funding: $103 million Focus: Reviving spun-out Pfizer drugs Notable funder: Bain Capital, OrbiMed, Pfizer, LifeArc
Kaleido Biosciences Series A & B funding: $65 million Focus: Microbiome Notable funder: Flagship Pioneering
Palleon Pharmaceuticals Series A funding: $48 million Focus: Cancer glycanbased immunoncology drugs Notable funders: SR One, Pfizer Ventures, Vertex Ventures HC, Takeda Ventures, AbbVie Ventures Notable academic founders: Carolyn Bertozzi, Paul Crocker
Series A funding: $76 million Focus: CRISPRscreening platform for oncology and immunology drug discovery Notable funders: Flagship Pioneering, Polaris Partners Notable academic founders: David Sabitini, William Hahn, Jonathan Weissman, Tim Wang
Tango Therapeutics Series A funding: $55 million Focus: Synthetic lethality Notable funder: Third Rock Ventures
Arrakis Therapeutics Series A funding: $38 million Focus: Small molecules targeting RNA Notable funder: Canaan Partners
Navire Pharma Series A funding: $30 million Focus: SHP2 inhibitors Notable funder: BridgeBio Pharma Notable academic founder: Benjamin G. Neel
Source: Companies DECEMBER 4, 2017 | CEN.ACS.ORG | C&EN
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