Article preview reprinted from Start-Up - January, 2009
It's a common perception that venture investors have turned their backs—or at least hidden their pocketbooks—from big think platform-based biotechs in search of early stage funding. But a quick look at the large A rounds raised in recent years suggests that sentiment isn't exactly true. Even as the pool of available capital shrinks and despite the gloomy exit environment, start-ups with promising technologies capable of generating multiple products across a wide swath of therapeutic areas are still gaining funding.
Ascent Therapeutics: There's Still Money in Discovery Platforms
Article preview reprinted from Start-Up - January, 2009
One company that recently emerged from stealth mode: Ascent Therapeutics Inc., which aims to develop drug candidates that interfere with G-protein coupled receptor signaling. Back in 2007, the company raised a $19 million Series A with backing from Healthcare Ventures, TVM Capital, and the Novartis Option Fund. But the start-up stayed clear of the limelight until late in 2008, when newly appointed President and CEO Frederick Jones started talking up his nascent company's deal with Novartis AG—and its option fund—to develop drugs against an undisclosed GPCR. Specific financial details of the agreement, which includes an upfront fee and potential milestones totaling over $200 million, as well as royalties, were not revealed.
In addition to cancer-focused plays Agios Pharmaceuticals and Constellation Pharmaceuticals Inc., which raised $33 million and $32 million respectively, other companies generating eyebrow-raising amounts of cash in 2008 included Proteostasis Therapeutics Inc. and Forma Therapeutics Inc. Last August, Proteostasis pulled in a $45 million Series A to develop first-in-class small molecule therapies for neurodegenerative diseases and certain genetic conditions by targeting the biological pathways that regulate the correct folding or placement of proteins within a cell. Forma, which celebrated its $25 million Series A coming-out party at the recently held JP Morgan health care conference, has amassed a suite of cell-based screening and structure-guided drug discovery tools in order to develop novel drugs against historically challenging targets.
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Companies mentioned in this article:
Agios Pharmaceuticals
Ascent Therapeutics Inc.
Constellation Pharmaceuticals Inc.
Forma Therapeutics Inc.
Novartis AG
Proteostasis Therapeutics Inc.
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