Eddie Eltoukhy’s Post

Check out this very interesting compilation of statistics on top 50 Biotech exits in the past 15 years. Several questions come to founder’s mind while establishing a company. Should the company focus on the plarform or products? Should the CEO have prior experience or be a first-timer? Incubate by a VC or be independent? Looking at the data for 50 successful companies may provide some guidance. Some answers confirm prior notions. Some are surprising.

Among the top 50 Life science startups, a whopping 46 (92%) were therapeutics companies, 3 (6%) were diagnostics companies, and 1 (2%) was a life sciences tools company (10X genomics). Major indication areas included oncology, immunology, CNS diseases, and infectious diseases. Oncology was the most common lead therapeutic area (16 companies, 34.78%), followed by rare diseases (13 companies, 28.26%). #Biotech #lifescience

Amplifying this excellent analysis about "biotech behemoths" of the last 15 years shared by Eddie Eltoukhy from Pear VC. 👇 💡 One thing that jumps out at me from this analysis is the value of being among the crop of sentinel companies in an exciting new category. Within the #cardiology space ... MyoKardia gets a lot of R&D credit and landed a huge M&A premium for being among the first to pioneer precisions medicines the #cardiomyopathy field (even though in hindsight most would agree Bristol Myers Squibb overpaid). The acquisition of Carmot Therapeutics, Inc. by Roche would have also made this list but they were founded 1 year before the analysis cutoff. I agree with Eddie that there are likely some future "behemoths" lurking in the #cardiometabolic space -- including, hopefully Tenaya Therapeutics! -- but it will be harder to break through the noise. Within the #AAV #genetherapy space, AveXis, Spark Therapeutics, Inc., and Audentes make the "behemoth" cut as they were acquired by Big Pharma during a time when there was a lot of excitement about that modality. There are AAV companies today that arguably have more robust and exciting clinical data and technology platforms than Spark and Audentes ever had, but valuations have subsequently plummeted and they will likely never make the "biotech behemoth" list (and in hindsight most would say that Roche and Astellas Pharma overpaid. Within the #geneediting space ... it is remarkable how a technology that was first published on in 2012 has already spawned two "biotech behemoths" in Intellia Therapeutics, Inc. and CRISPR Therapeutics that have both generated incredible clinical data. That shows how rapidly we can now translate new scientific insights into human therapeutics. However, most would agree that it may be harder for new "behemoths" to emerge from among the long tail of gene editing companies that have subsequently emerged, even though their editing technologies may be superior to the original CRISPR/Cas9. 💡 However ... not all sentinels become "behemoths", and why some succeed and some do not is worthy of its own analysis: - In the cell therapy space, bluebird bio was a sentinel pioneer that came down to earth despite great investors and leaders and 4 approved products that have objectively saved lives. - In the AAV space, REGENXBIO Inc. was a sentinel pioneer that spawned two "behemoths" (AveXis and Audentes) but has not yet become one, despite also having generated exciting clinical data of its own. - In the editing space, Sangamo Therapeutics, Inc. was a sentinel pioneer that did not enjoy the success of [Side note: The one thing I don't love methodologically is the choice of using market value at IPO OR as of 12/31/23. Many companies had artificially frothy valuations in the 2019-2021 period, and those prices came down to the earth by now. Sana Biotechnology, Inc. is one example ... they would not make the "behemoth" cut based on stock price on 12/31/23.]

Another busy week of deals in biotech, drug discovery and medical devices. 📢 Evotec makes 'strategic exit' from gene therapy as part of wider shake-up. The “strategic exit” from the gene therapy space is designed to “bring the focus on the company’s core modalities,” 📢AstraZeneca joins obesity biotech SixPeaks at basecamp with $80M for buyout option. Based in Switzerland, the aptly named SixPeaks Bio broke stealth Wednesday, announcing $30 million in series A funding. 📢R3 Vascular raises $87M to test its bioresorbable scaffold for blocked arteries below the knee. 📢Takeda gets crafty with $1.2B biobucks deal to create molecular glues with Degron Therapeutics. 📢AstraZeneca pays $19M to Harbour BioMed's Nona for preclinical cancer antibodies. In exchange for preclinical monoclonal antibodies, the Massachusetts-based biotech will receive $19 million upfront, with a $10 million near-term payment. 📢Unfortunantely, home COVID testmaker Cue Health to shut down operations, lays off staff. 📢London-based AI-driven antibody drug discovery specialist LabGenius has closed a £35m Series B financing round, bringing their total raised so far to £58m 📢Danish industrial biotechnology startup Cellugy raises €4.9m with the ambition to replace petrochemicals in personal care products. 📢Merck KGaA to buy gene therapy tools maker for $600M. The German drugmaker is bolstering its North American contract business with a unit of Gamma Biosciences that specializes in so-called transfection reagents.   📢Orna Therapeutics, a circular RNA specialist, acquires ReNAgade Therapeutics, which has built technology designed to more effectively deliver RNA-based medicines. Newton Colmore is a specialist recruiter, dedicated to the medical devices, biotech, and drug discovery markets, globally. We help our clients find the experts they need to develop novel devices, technologies, and therapeutics. #medicaldevices #biotechnology #therapeutics #diagnostics #innovation #syntheticbiology #acquisition #business  

EXCERPTS: Bayer’s network of Co.Lab life sciences incubators has expanded once again with the announcement of a new site in Shanghai, China, that will focus on oncology cell and gene therapies (CGT). China is already the second-largest pharma market in the world behind the US and, according to some estimates, could become the largest market within the next decade, making it an important growth area for pharma groups. Its fast-growing biotech sector means it is also increasingly becoming a source of new therapeutic candidates. The company has been growing its network of incubators at a steady pace, with the new announcements coming just a few months after it opened a Co.Lab in Cambridge, Massachusetts, its third in the US after San Francisco and Sacramento. The aim of incubators is to provide a location for new start-ups without the capital cost of setting up their own lab and office space, with the pharma companies that run them typically providing mentoring and other support that can scale up if their projects gather momentum.

News highlights from this Sunday: 💰 J.P. Morgan Life Sciences Private Capital closes its inaugural biotechnology venture capital fund with over $500 million in commitments, aiming to invest in innovative biotechnology companies across various stages and therapeutic areas. 📈 Tempus AI announces the pricing of its initial public offering (IPO), with 11,100,000 shares of Class A common stock at $37.00 per share, aiming to raise $410.7 million in gross proceeds, with trading set to begin on Nasdaq under the ticker "TEM" on June 14, 2024. Tempus AI is a technology company advancing precision medicine through the practical application of artificial intelligence in healthcare. 🏛 In global first, Cuorips, an Osaka University-affiliated startup, will seek approval from Japan's Government for its iPS cell-derived cardiac tissue sheet, a less invasive treatment for heart disease, after successful clinical trials. 🤝 Hoth Therapeutics, Inc partners with Wise Systems International to leverage Nvidia's BioNeMo AI platform for generative AI applications in drug discovery, enhancing their pipeline from target identification to lead optimization. 🔬 Lantern Pharma Inc. (Nasdaq: LTRN)'s AI-designed oncology drug candidate LP-284, currently in Phase 1 trials for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and certain sarcomas, receives a composition of matter patent in Japan, following previous patents in two other countries. 💰 Foresite Capital raises $900M for its sixth fund to invest in healthcare and life science startups at all stages, focusing on precision therapeutics, life science infrastructure, and healthcare delivery. 🔬 FluoSphera and Revvity announce a collaboration to develop a multiplexed selectivity assay for in vitro drug discovery, combining FluoSphera’s 3D cell culture system with Revvity’s HTRF assays and PhenoVue imaging reagents to evaluate drug target selectivity across multiple tissue types. 📈 QuantumPharm, operating as XtalPi Inc., a drug research company using AI and robotic automation, commenced trading on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, raising approximately $126.8 million, the third-largest IPO in Hong Kong this year. 🚀 Santa Ana Bio, Inc. launches with $168M in Series A and B funding to develop precision therapies for autoimmune and inflammatory diseases, leveraging advanced proteomic, transcriptomic, and genomic techniques for targeted treatments. 🏛 Ultragenyx plans to file for accelerated approval of UX111, an AAV gene therapy for Sanfilippo syndrome Type A (MPS IIIA), after reaching an agreement with the FDA that cerebral spinal fluid heparan sulfate can be used as a surrogate endpoint. More on BioPharmaTrend.com and HLTH Europe event announcement, the most comprehensive dataset of human protein structures, new oncology drug candidate, and an interview with Brendan Frey, founder of Deep Genomics — in our full Sunday newsletter, link in the comments. #Biotech #AIinHealthcare #DrugDiscovery #LifeSciences #HealthcareInnovation

Do you have Biotech in your portfolio? A decade later, biotech’s CRISPR revolution is still going strong The first medicine based on the gene editing technology could soon win U.S. approval. A growing field of startups and scientists are working on what comes next. We had explained what #crispr is here: (https://lnkd.in/gumyd_9h) and by the end of the year, the gene editing technology could win Food and Drug Administration approval as part of a powerful new treatment for sickle cell disease. In fact, CRISPR gene editing is at the heart of the biotechnology industry’s latest Big Bang. Since 2012, more than a dozen biotech companies have sprung forward to capitalize on the possibilities they and other scientists unlocked. This new generation has joined early adopters CRISPR Therapeutics, Editas Medicine and Intellia Therapeutics, Inc., offering various twists and tweaks to improve on the original CRISPR technology. They’re also taking aim at a wider array of illnesses, from ALS to heart disease. And, as happened with new drugmaking technologies before CRISPR, large pharmaceutical companies have moved in, placing bets on the technology’s potential. “Large pharma is recognizing that this has the potential to be the future of medicine,” said Benjamin Oakes, co-founder and CEO of Scribe Therapeutics, an early-stage CRISPR drug developer now working with Eli Lilly and Company Lilly and Sanofi . The first glimpse of that future could come in early December, when the FDA is set to decide on approval of that sickle cell treatment, known as exa-cel and developed by CRISPR Therapeutics and Vertex Pharmaceuticals. The drug, relies on the former approach. A patient’s own stem cells are collected and isolated in a laboratory, where CRISPR/Cas9 is used to cut a particular section of a gene called BCL11A. This disruption causes the cells, once reinfused back into the patient, to produce high levels of fetal hemoglobin, an oxygen-carrying protein which the body stops making soon after infancy. High levels of fetal hemoglobin are thought to counteract the red blood cell sickling that’s characteristic of the disease and the cause of its symptoms. moiq capital and its partners have historically invested in Biotech and more specifically in CRISPR since the first players IPO. Please reach us out if you would like to discuss the future of Lifescience and Biotech. #biotech #lifescience #investment #wealthmanagement #wealthmanagers #privatebank #privatebanking #eam #iam #familyoffice #nextgen #futureoffinance

Cell and molecular biology

🚀 Big News from Radar Therapeutics! 🚀 Radar Therapeutics has successfully raised $13.4 million in seed financing to advance its mission of developing smart programmable medicines using molecular RNA sensors! 🎉💉 The funding round was led by NfX Bio with participation from major investors including Eli Lilly and Company, Biovision Ventures, and KdT Ventures. Additional support came from PearVC, BEVC, and other esteemed investors. 🙌💰 What They're Working On: 🔬 Programmable Genetic and mRNA-Based Therapeutics: Radar Therapeutics is pioneering the use of RNA sensors—mRNAs that control gene expression based on cell-specific RNAs—to enable precise, targeted, and timed drug delivery. This approach aims to minimize systemic side-effects and enhance therapeutic efficacy. Key Highlights: 🌟 Innovative Technology: The RADAR platform allows for the rational design of precision therapeutics, capable of altering cell biology, deleting harmful cells, or reprogramming cells for autoimmune diseases. 🌟 Expert Leadership: Co-founded by synthetic biology pioneer Jim Collins, Ph.D., and Xiaojing Gao, Ph.D., with industry-leading insights from CEO Sophia Lugo and CSO Eerik Kaseniit, Ph.D.. 🌟 Impactful Publications: Featured in Nature Biotechnology, showcasing highly specific, compact sensor sequences for targeted gene expression. 🌟 Industry Recognition: Honored with the AbbVie Golden Ticket, Johnson & Johnson West Coast Cell and Gene Therapy Symposium "Judge's Choice" award, and the Amgen Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging Award. “We’re leveraging the explosion in single-cell transcriptomic data and advances in RNA-editing enzymes to create smart mRNA therapies,” said Eerik Kaseniit, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer & Co-Founder. “By leveraging a broad dataset offered by single-cell transcriptomics, Radar can precisely identify cellular signatures and engineer programmable therapies accordingly, offering unparalleled specificity to avoid off-target effects,” said Omri Amirav-Drory, PhD, Partner, NfX Ventures. With the support of these top-tier investors, Radar Therapeutics is set to advance its preclinical programs and continue expanding its team. 🚀 #Biotech #mRNA #RNAEditing #PrecisionMedicine #GeneticTherapeutics #HealthcareInnovation #Investment #SeedFunding #SmartMedicine #BiotechInnovation #SingleCellTranscriptomics #DrugDevelopment #RadarTherapeutics

Reducing the costs of ATMPs in the Global South involves a multifaceted approach that addresses various factors contributing to the high expenses associated with these innovative treatments. Here are several strategies that can be considered: 1) Local Manufacturing and Infrastructure Development: Establish local manufacturing capabilities to reduce dependence on expensive imports. Invest in infrastructure for the production and distribution of gene and cell therapies within the region. 2) Capacity Building and Knowledge Transfer: Promote capacity building initiatives to train local researchers and healthcare professionals in advanced biotechnological processes. Facilitate knowledge transfer through collaborations with international experts and institutions. 3) Intellectual Property (IP) Strategies: Develop and implement IP strategies that balance protection with accessibility, allowing for local innovation and competition. Encourage collaborative research efforts to share advancements and avoid duplication of efforts. 4) Regulatory Streamlining and Support: Streamline regulatory processes to expedite approval and reduce regulatory hurdles, without compromising safety and efficacy. Provide regulatory support and incentives for local research and development efforts. 5) Public-Private Partnerships: Foster collaborations between public and private sectors to share resources, expertise, and risks. Explore innovative funding models that involve both governmental and private support. 6) International Collaboration and Funding: Engage in international partnerships to access funding, expertise, and collaborative opportunities. Leverage global initiatives and organizations that focus on improving healthcare access in low- and middle-income countries. 7) Technology Transfer and Licensing: Negotiate technology transfer agreements with pharmaceutical companies to enable local production. Explore licensing agreements that allow for the use of patented technologies at reduced costs. 8) Health Economics and Financing Models: Conduct health economics studies to understand the long-term cost-effectiveness of gene and cell therapies. Develop financing models that make these therapies financially sustainable for healthcare systems in the Global South. 9) Patient Advocacy and Education: Empower patient advocacy groups to raise awareness and advocate for policy changes that improve access. 10)Government Support and Policy Initiatives: Implement policies that encourage investment in research and development of innovative therapies. Provide financial incentives and support for companies and institutions engaged in developing and manufacturing gene and cell therapies. By adopting a comprehensive and collaborative approach, it is possible to make gene and cell therapies more affordable and accessible in the Global South, ensuring that these groundbreaking treatments reach those who need them the most.