The Venture Codex

Participated · Series B · Oct 2022

Odyssey Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing medicines designed to precisely target disease pathology in autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. Since its founding in 2021, the company has built comprehensive drug discovery and development capabilities and advanced an internally discovered program through multiple clinical milestones. Odyssey has nominated multiple development candidates and established collaborations with pharmaceutical leaders and biotech innovators. Its portfolio includes internally discovered clinical and preclinical candidates intended to induce deep and durable remission across several inflammatory diseases with unmet need. The company plans to advance these programs toward important clinical milestones and translate scientific efforts into patient benefit. Odyssey recently completed a major financing to support progression of its clinical pipeline. Odyssey Therapeutics has built a discovery and development platform that merges computational and experimental technologies to identify modality-agnostic drug targets with high clinical potential. From its Boston headquarters, the company has advanced multiple programs from ideation to a portfolio of high-value product candidates within about two years of founding in late 2021. Odyssey is focused on bringing immunology and oncology therapeutics into clinical development, with several molecules that could enter the clinic in the next 12 months. Proceeds from financing will support advancement of multiple programs into clinical studies and continued investment in discovery to build a sustainable model for therapeutic innovation. The company emphasizes a capital-efficient model and aims to deliver safe and effective precision medicines to patients with serious diseases. Leadership includes founder and CEO Gary D. Glick, Ph.D., and an experienced board guiding clinical and company-building strategy. Odyssey Therapeutics, based in Boston, raised $168M in a Series B funding round led by General Catalyst. The round included participation from Fidelity Management & Research Company, T. Rowe Price Associates, GreatPoint Ventures, Catalio Capital Management, Walleye Capital, Alexandria Venture Investments, The Healthcare Innovation Investment Fund LLC, OrbiMed, SR One, Foresite Capital, Logos Capital, Woodline Partners LP, HBM Healthcare Investments, Colt Ventures and Creacion Ventures. The company intends to use the funds to advance its portfolio of precision immunomodulators and oncology medicines. Its immunology and oncology portfolio encompasses eight declared programs initially focused on small molecule and protein therapeutics. Odyssey is building a discovery engine that integrates artificial intelligence and machine learning for molecular design, a chemistry platform encompassing proprietary covalent libraries targeting multiple amino acids, molecular glues and natural products, and a functional genomics platform for novel target discovery. Gary D. Glick, Ph.D. is Founder and Chief Executive Officer. Odyssey Therapeutics develops next-generation precision immunomodulators and oncology medicines using a discovery platform that combines target biology, medicinal and structural chemistry, physics-based molecular simulations, and AI/machine learning. The company was founded by Gary D. Glick, Ph.D., and is led by a team with a track record that includes helping bring more than 20 drugs to market. Odyssey intends to advance multiple pipeline programs and expand its discovery platform to broaden the druggable genome. Financially, the company completed a large Series A financing (see deal details). Odyssey is headquartered in Boston, with labs there, and is expanding its team to more than 90 scientists and staff. The company emphasizes selecting targets and therapeutic modalities aimed at maximizing clinical impact.

Participated · Series B · Jun 2021

Umoja Biopharma is a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing in vivo cell therapies to expand the reach, effectiveness, and access of CAR T treatments. Its VivoVec™ in vivo gene delivery technology is designed to empower a patient’s own immune system to fight disease by delivering therapeutic constructs directly in vivo. The company’s lead program is CD22 UB-VV400, which it plans to advance in multiple oncology and autoimmune clinical studies. Umoja intends to use proceeds from its recent financing to advance this in vivo CAR T pipeline. The company is led by CEO Andrew Scharenberg and is based in Seattle, Washington. In conjunction with the financing, Umoja added Campbell Murray, M.D., as a new board member. Umoja Biopharma leverages proprietary integrated technologies to reprogram immune cells in vivo to create next-generation immunotherapies for solid tumors and hematologic malignancies. Its platform includes CAR T-cell adapter-mediated tumor-targeting (TumorTag) and in vivo modification of immune cells (VivoVec and RACR/CAR). The company’s two lead programs are TumorTag UB-TT170 for folate receptor-expressing solid tumors and VivoVec UB-VV100 for CD19+ hematological cancers. Umoja will use proceeds from a $210M Series B to continue development of its integrated technologies and advance these product candidates into clinical development. The company also plans to build internal manufacturing capabilities to support preclinical and clinical development and to expand its team. Recent leadership hires include Nushmia Khokhar as Chief Medical Officer, Irena Melnikova as Chief Financial Officer and David Fontana as Chief Business and Strategy Officer, and Umoja is establishing a manufacturing operations site in Boulder, Colorado. Umoja Biopharma is a Seattle-based, pre-clinical biotechnology company pioneering an integrated in vivo immunotherapy platform. Its platform combines three core components: the VivoVec delivery platform, RACR/CAR payload architecture, and the TumorTag platform. VivoVec acts in vivo to generate a population of cancer-fighting VivoCAR T cells that can be controlled by the RACR/CAR system using exogenously administered, FDA-approved drugs. TumorTag molecules can be used in combination with VivoCAR T cells to direct cancer-killing T cells to tumors and their critical supporting cells. Led by co-founders Andy Scharenberg, M.D., and Michael Jensen, M.D., the company aims to re-engineer a patient's immune system to attack both hematologic and solid organ-based tumors with simplicity and cost that enable widespread implementation. The $53M Series A financing will enable Umoja to advance its platform and therapeutic programs to early clinical development, attract talent and invest in research.

Participated · Series C · Dec 2020

Cullinan Oncology is a biopharmaceutical company developing a diversified pipeline of targeted oncology and immuno-oncology therapies with transformative potential for cancer patients. The company assembles a portfolio of single-asset oncology opportunities through both internal and external means. It operates a unique, cost-efficient model that leverages a central management team and shared services to drive speed and efficiency. Cullinan announced the closing of an oversubscribed $131.2 million Series C financing. SVB Leerink served as the exclusive placement agent for the private placement. The financing reinforces the company's capital base as it pursues advancement of its portfolio of oncology assets. Cullinan Oncology builds a diversified portfolio of internally developed and externally sourced oncology assets, advancing both small molecules and biologics. The company focuses on efficiently developing single-asset opportunities through strategic partners and a shared-services platform. Its pipeline includes Cullinan Pearl, an oral tyrosine kinase inhibitor targeting EGFR exon 20 mutations, and a mix of targeted small molecules, first-in-class immunotherapies, bispecific antibodies and multifunctional fusion proteins. Since its founding in October 2017, Cullinan has progressed seven assets through in vivo proof-of-concept studies or into human clinical testing. The company completed a $98.5 million Series B to support ongoing clinical trials across its portfolio. Recent leadership moves include hiring Jon Wigginton, M.D., as Chief Medical Officer and promoting Jennifer Michaelson, Ph.D., to Chief Development Officer, Biologics. Cullinan is based in Cambridge, Mass., and emphasizes distributing risk and maximizing optionality through its portfolio approach. Cullinan Oncology was created by MPM Capital to develop high-value oncology therapeutics using a capital-efficient, portfolio-based model. The company builds and manages a diversified pipeline of internally developed and externally sourced oncology assets under a single experienced team. Its scalable approach minimizes fixed costs and inefficiencies via strategic partnerships and a shared services platform. Cullinan intends to capitalize on scientific breakthroughs across a broad range of cancer targets and therapeutic modalities to drive better patient outcomes. The company emphasizes distributing risk while maximizing optionality across multiple programs. The organization is led by a senior team of oncology researchers and biopharma executives, including co-founder and CSO Patrick Baeuerle and CEO Owen Hughes.

Participated · Series B · Dec 2020

Locanabio develops RNA-targeted genetic medicines delivered by AAV, using engineered small nuclear RNAs (snRNAs) alongside Cas13d and PUF platforms to selectively manipulate disease-causing RNA. Its vectorized snRNA platform can deliver multiple snRNAs in a single AAV to increase potency or target multiple RNAs and is designed for a one-time administration without altering cellular DNA. Locanabio describes snRNAs as RNA-exclusive, precise, and non-immunogenic tools that can effect exon skipping, RNA editing, and other mechanisms. The company is advancing programs in rare genetic neuromuscular and neurodegenerative diseases, including DMD exon-skipping programs. Its exon 51 program, intended to enable production of a near full-length dystrophin protein, is in IND-enabling studies. Locanabio expects to present additional data at an upcoming peer-reviewed scientific conference and recently received an equity investment from CureDuchenne Ventures to support its snRNA-mediated exon skipping work. Locanabio is a San Diego-based RNA-targeting gene therapy company focused on developing therapies for patients with severe neurodegenerative, neuromuscular and retinal diseases. The company is advancing a portfolio of RNA-targeted gene therapies aimed at multiple genetic diseases that currently have no approved therapeutic alternatives. Indications specifically mentioned include Huntington’s disease, spinocerebellar ataxia type 1, myotonic dystrophy type 1, genetic forms of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and retinal diseases. Locanabio recently raised $100M in a Series B financing to advance its pipeline and expand the underlying technology platform to pursue a broader range of therapeutic indications. Jim Burns, Ph.D., serves as chief executive officer. Rajul Jain, M.D., director of Vida Ventures, will join Locanabio’s board of directors.

Participated · Series C · Aug 2020

Kinnate Biopharma is developing targeted oncology product candidates. The company raised a $35 million Series A financing to fund a joint venture in China. The financing was led by OrbiMed Asia Partners, with participation from OrbiMed Private Investments and Foresite Capital. Kinnate will be the majority shareholder in the joint venture and appointed Wenn Sun, Ph.D., as the joint venture’s Executive Chair. The company intends to use the funds to form a China joint venture to develop its oncology drugs in Greater China. The effort is aimed at enabling the potential development and commercialization of certain Kinnate targeted oncology product candidates in that region. Kinnate Biopharma is focused on the discovery and development of small molecule kinase inhibitors targeting difficult-to-treat, genomically-defined cancers. The company leverages its Kinnate Discovery Engine—structure-based drug discovery, translational research, and patient-driven precision medicine—to build a wholly owned kinase inhibitor portfolio. Its lead preclinical programs include small molecules against specific classes of BRAF kinase mutations (Class II and Class III) and FGFR2/FGFR3 alterations designed to overcome resistance to existing therapies. Kinnate is collaborating with precision medicine centers including Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center and the UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center to advance its programs. The company raised $98 million in a Series C financing to fund advancement of at least one lead product candidate into clinical development in the first half of next year. Headquartered in San Diego, Kinnate emphasizes expanding targeted therapeutics for underserved patient populations. Kinnate Biopharma focuses on the discovery and development of selective small-molecule kinase inhibitors targeting genomically defined cancer vulnerabilities. The company has built a broad portfolio of programs aimed at addressing substantial patient populations and resistance mechanisms. Kinnate plans to use new funding to advance several development candidates from existing programs into the clinic and to fund new research efforts. The company also intends to expand its team of oncology drug developers at its headquarters in San Diego. Kinnate emphasizes delivering best-in-class and first-in-class drug candidates with a goal of reaching clinical proof-of-concept. The announcement notes rapid program progression since its Series A financing close.