Participated · Equity · Sep 2025

Ensoma is a Boston-based biotechnology company focused on engineering hematopoietic stem cells directly inside the body to create durable genetic medicines for genetic diseases, immune disorders, and cancer. Its platform uses high-capacity virus-like particles (VLPs) that selectively target HSCs and can deliver up to 35 kb of genetic cargo, enabling single-base edits through large multi-gene insertions. The company combines these VLPs with proprietary base-editing and gene-integration systems, aiming for one-time intravenous administration. Proceeds from its latest financing will fund a Phase 1/2 clinical trial of lead candidate EN-374 for X-linked chronic granulomatous disease and support platform expansion into immuno-oncology and sickle cell programs. Ensoma’s strategy centers on creating off-the-shelf, non-myeloablative treatments that avoid the complexity and cost of ex vivo cell processing. The firm’s board now includes a Gilead appointee following the strategic investment. No financial metrics or commercial revenues have been disclosed to date.

Led · Equity · Jan 2024

Arcus Biosciences is advancing multiple investigational oncology molecules, including domvanalimab, zimberelimab, the CD73 inhibitor quemliclustat, and AB521. The company and Gilead amended their collaboration to accelerate joint development programs and added governance changes to streamline decision-making. Gilead made a $320 million equity investment in Arcus common stock at $21 per share as part of the amendment. The reprioritized domvanalimab program will focus on Phase 3 studies STAR-121 (lung) and STAR-221 (gastrointestinal), with both expected to be fully enrolled by year-end, and the companies plan to initiate STAR-131. Arcus will discontinue further enrollment in the ARC-10 study as part of this strategic prioritization. The investment extends Arcus’ cash runway into 2027 and is intended to fund Phase 3 studies of quemliclustat in pancreatic cancer and AB521 in kidney cancer and to support preparation for potential product approvals. Arcus Biosciences is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on discovery and development of cancer immunotherapies, including AB928 (a first-in-class dual adenosine receptor antagonist) and AB122 (a PD-1 antibody). The company has initiated a phase 1 trial of AB928 in healthy volunteers and a phase 1 trial of AB122 in cancer patients in Australia, with AB122 data expected in 2018; it plans a phase 1/2 trial of the AB928+AB122 combination in cancer patients in the first half of 2018. Proceeds from the financing will also support advancing at least two additional product candidates into clinical development: AB680, a small-molecule CD73 inhibitor, and AB154, a TIGIT antibody, which are in IND-enabling studies. Arcus has approximately 80 employees and was founded in 2015 by Terry Rosen and Juan Jaen. The company is based in Hayward, California. Since inception Arcus has raised $227 million in equity capital. Arcus Biosciences is a Hayward, California-based immuno-oncology company developing both small-molecule and antibody therapeutics. The company’s strategy is to enable internal combinations by advancing agents from its internal programs. It has selected its first three small-molecule targets along the ATP-adenosine pathway: CD73, CD39 and the A2A receptor. Arcus set goals to take some of those programs into the clinic in 2017. Financially, the company raised an additional $70M in Series B equity financing to continue its drug development activities. Backers on the round included Taiho Ventures, GV, Invus, DROIA Oncology Ventures and Stanford University, alongside Series A investors The Column Group, Foresite Capital, Novartis and Celgene. The company is led by CEO Terry Rosen, Ph.D., and President Juan Jaen, Ph.D.

Led · Equity · Dec 2023

HOOKIPA Pharma is a biotechnology company headquartered in Vienna, Austria, focused on developing active immunotherapies for infectious diseases and oncology. The company’s core work centers on therapeutic vaccines and immune-based approaches to prevent and treat disease. Recent disclosed financing shows strategic interest from a major pharma: Gilead Sciences purchased 15,000,000 shares of HOOKIPA common stock. The purchase price was $1.4167 per share, for a total of approximately $21.25 million. The transaction was described as a strategic investment in HOOKIPA. No operating metrics (revenue or user figures) were disclosed in the article. HOOKIPA Pharma is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing a new class of immunotherapeutics based on a proprietary arenavirus platform. Its platform includes VaxWave (a replication-deficient viral vector) and TheraT (a replication-attenuated viral vector) designed to induce robust antigen-specific CD8+ T cells and pathogen-neutralizing antibodies and to allow repeat administration. The company's lead programs include HB-101, a prophylactic cytomegalovirus vaccine that completed Phase 1 and is in a Phase 2 trial in CMV-negative patients awaiting kidney transplantation, and HB-201 and HB-202, oncology candidates for HPV-positive cancers. HOOKIPA has entered a collaboration and licensing agreement with Gilead Sciences to jointly research and develop functional cures for HIV and Hepatitis B. The company plans to apply its arenavirus platform to develop additional novel immuno-oncology product candidates and to expand its infectious disease portfolio. HOOKIPA recently completed a $37.4 million Series D financing to support advancement of its clinical development programs. Hookipa Biotech is a clinical-stage company developing next-generation immunotherapies using proprietary arenavirus vector platforms TheraT® and Vaxwave®. Vaxwave® is a replication-defective LCMV-based vector designed to infect dendritic cells and elicit potent, long-lasting immune responses; HB-101, the Vaxwave®-based CMV vaccine, completed a phase 1 trial showing safety and immunogenicity. TheraT® is an attenuated replicating arenavirus platform engineered to elicit strong antigen-specific CD8+ cytotoxic T cell responses and has shown robust tumor control in preclinical models. The company is advancing a phase 2 study of its prophylactic CMV vaccine in solid organ transplant patients and a phase 1 TheraT® active immunization trial in head & neck squamous cell carcinoma. Proceeds from the recent financing will be used to progress those proof-of-concept clinical trials and to expand the platform into additional disease areas such as prostate cancer. Hookipa Biotech AG develops a novel class of prophylactic and therapeutic vaccines based on its proprietary Vaxwave® viral vector platform. The Vaxwave® technology is a replication-defective viral vector designed to stimulate both potent B-cell (antibody) and CD8+ T-cell immune responses and can be administered repeatedly. The company’s lead product candidate, HB101, is a vaccine against cytomegalovirus (CMV) currently in advanced pre-clinical development and testing. Hookipa plans to use new funding to progress HB101 into Phase I clinical testing and to further industrialize the Vaxwave® technology for partnering and pipeline building. The platform is also being explored for cancer immunotherapy because Vaxwave® vectors are not inhibited by anti-vector immunity and can repeatedly stimulate CD8+ T cell responses against tumor targets. Financially, Hookipa has raised a total of €27 million in equity to date, including the newly announced Series B. Hookipa Biotech is an Austrian biotech startup founded in July 2011 focused on developing next-generation genetic vaccines. The company has developed a proprietary VaxwaveTM technology platform dedicated to genetic vaccines for prophylactic and therapeutic treatment of viral diseases. Its lead product is HB101, which Hookipa plans to advance through preclinical development and a Phase I proof-of-concept study. The company intends to use recently raised funds to further industrialize and validate the VaxwaveTM technology and to advance HB101. Hookipa is led by CEO Dr. Katherine Cohen, formerly Senior Vice President for Corporate & Business Development at Intercell AG.

Participated · Series B · Sep 2023

Tentarix Biotherapeutics uses its proprietary Tentacles™ platform to discover and develop multi-functional, conditional protein therapeutics with cell-specific activity. The company is focused on creating multifunctional biologics intended to target previously undruggable targets and transform biologics. With the new Series B financing and a collaboration with Gilead, management says the company is well-capitalized to expand its pipeline of cell-specific, conditionally active therapeutics. President and CEO Paul Grayson stated the financing extends its cash runway and enables pipeline expansion. Since inception Tentarix has raised $132 million in total from equity and upfront partnership payments, including the most recent $35 million Series B. The company is based in San Diego. Tentarix develops next-generation antibody-based multifunctional biotherapeutics that can conditionally activate or inhibit specific cell populations, enabling cell-type selectivity and unique functions. Its proprietary platform enables high-throughput discovery and optimization of multifunctional molecules with robust mammalian expression and molecular developability. The company has generated proof-of-concept data across multiple receptor classes and is advancing a lead program that engages IL2R gamma and IL2R beta subunits plus additional subunits that target a specific T cell subset, producing potent activity only when all targets are engaged. Tentarix is also advancing programs in cell type–specific reprogramming and cell population–specific delivery and internalization. A seasoned leadership team and more than 30 experts in protein engineering, cell surface proteomics, and discovery technology are assembled in San Diego, California and Vancouver, British Columbia. The company intends to translate its platform across oncology and autoimmune indications.

Participated · Series B · Aug 2023

Kyverna Therapeutics is a clinical-stage cell therapy company focused on engineering a new class of therapies for autoimmune diseases. Its lead programs, KYV-101 and KYV-201, are anti-CD19 CAR T-cell therapies that target CD19 on B cells. The company is advancing clinical studies in the U.S. and Europe and intends to use recent financing to accelerate those trials. Kyverna specifically highlights applications in autoimmune conditions including lupus nephritis. The company has attracted investment from biopharma and life-science investors backing its clinical-stage programs. Kyverna Therapeutics engineers a new class of cell therapies for serious autoimmune and inflammatory diseases using advanced T-cell engineering and synthetic biology. Its platform includes next-generation CAR T therapies in autologous and allogeneic settings and synReg T cells, a synthetic version of regulatory T cells. The company holds exclusive worldwide licenses from the NIH to use a novel anti-CD19 construct across autologous and allogeneic CAR T therapies. Kyverna intends to advance KYV-101, an autologous anti-CD19 CAR T candidate, into clinical development for B cell-driven autoimmune diseases in the first half of 2022. It is also developing KYV-201 in collaboration with Intellia, combining its CD19 CAR construct with Intellia’s ex vivo CRISPR/Cas9-based allogeneic platform. Kyverna has a strategic collaboration and license agreement with Gilead to develop engineered T-cell therapies based on its synReg platform and Kite’s synNotch technology and is led by CEO Dominic Borie in Emeryville, California. Kyverna Therapeutics is a Berkeley, Calif.-based cell therapy company engineering a new class of therapies for serious autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. It raised $25 million in a Series A equity financing from Vida Ventures and Westlake Village BioPartners. The company’s platform combines advanced T cell engineering and synthetic biology technologies, including a synthetic Treg platform and synNotch™ technology from Kite (a Gilead company), to target autoreactive immune cells at the root cause of disease. Kyverna intends to use the proceeds to advance its therapeutic strategy and to conduct research activities and initial clinical studies through proof-of-concept for programs covered by its collaboration. Kyverna entered a strategic collaboration and license agreement with Gilead under which Gilead paid an upfront $17.5 million and Kyverna may earn up to $570 million in development and commercialization milestones; Gilead has an option to assume further clinical development and commercialization upon exercise. Leadership and board changes accompanied the financing: Fred Cohen of Vida Ventures will serve as chairman; Dominic Borie, M.D., Ph.D., was appointed CEO and will serve on the board; Jeffrey Greve, Ph.D., remains CSO; and investor representatives from Westlake Village BioPartners and Vida Ventures were named to the board. Kyverna will also continue to advance proprietary programs beyond the Gilead collaboration.