The Venture Codex

Participated · Series B · Jun 2025

Gallant is an animal health biotechnology company based in San Diego developing off-the-shelf stem cell therapies for dogs and cats. Its lead product targets refractory Feline Chronic Gingivostomatitis (FCGS) and is on track for FDA conditional approval in early 2026, which could become the first FDA-labeled allogeneic stem cell therapy in veterinary medicine. Gallant's proprietary platform harnesses uterine-derived mesenchymal stem cells and the company is advancing a pipeline that includes therapies for canine and feline osteoarthritis, canine atopic dermatitis, and feline chronic kidney disease. The company positions its therapies as ready-to-use, science-backed products developed under FDA oversight to address disease root causes rather than only managing symptoms. With the recently closed $18 million Series B, Gallant plans to accelerate initial commercial rollout of its FCGS therapy while continuing development across its pipeline. Leadership emphasizes development, manufacturing, and commercialization expertise with the stated mission of making regenerative medicine accessible to pets in need. Gallant offers stem-cell collection and lifetime banking services for pets, collecting tissue during routine spay/neuter procedures and harvesting younger stem cells for future treatments. The company charges $395 to collect and $595 for lifetime storage (or $95/year), with treatments priced at $300; it is waiving the initial collection fee for its launch. Gallant says veterinarians from its acquired business have already treated hundreds of cats and dogs with banked stem cells for conditions including osteoarthritis, atopic dermatitis, torn ligaments and chronic dry eye, and that those treatments have shown efficacy in early clinical trials. The business acquired the veterinary division of Cook-Regentec, including IP, existing stem cell banking operations and a pipeline of cell therapy products derived from reproductive tissue. Gallant's mission is to expand access to regenerative medicine for dogs nationwide, leveraging the high volume of routine spay/neuter procedures as a collection channel.

Led · Series C · May 2022

TARGAN is a technology provider focused on solving pressing issues in worldwide food production. Its flagship product, WingScan, is gaining rapid traction across the United States, Europe, and South America, with new markets coming on board every month. The company states it is entering an extraordinary growth phase and intends to scale its operations significantly. Management plans to channel new capital into infrastructure development that will underpin the next wave of product launches. This strategy is aimed at accelerating market expansion and reinforcing TARGAN’s leadership in food-production technology.

Participated · Series A · May 2020

Arvelle Therapeutics is an emerging biopharmaceutical company focused on bringing treatments to patients with CNS disorders and is responsible for developing and commercializing cenobamate in Europe. The company is headquartered in Zug, Switzerland. Cenobamate was discovered by SK Biopharmaceuticals and SK life science and is approved in the U.S., where it is commercially available as XCOPRI. Arvelle holds exclusive European rights and is preparing for a potential European launch pending regulatory approval. The company plans to expand operations across Europe and make country-by-country hires in preparation for that launch. Clinical work includes open-label extensions of prior trials and an ongoing randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial evaluating cenobamate in primary generalized tonic-clonic seizures (NCT03678753). Financially, Arvelle has secured substantial capital to support commercialization and operations. Arvelle Therapeutics was launched as a spin-off from Axovant Sciences to focus on bringing innovative solutions to patients with CNS disorders. The company’s lead program is cenobamate, a novel small-molecule investigational antiepileptic drug for potential treatment of partial-onset seizures in adults. Arvelle entered into an exclusive license with SK Biopharmaceuticals to develop and commercialize cenobamate in Europe and intends to file a Marketing Authorization Application (MAA) based on SK Biopharmaceuticals’ global clinical trial program. The new company assembled a leadership team from Axovant, with Mark Altmeyer named president and CEO. Arvelle received substantial initial funding from a global syndicate of biotechnology investors, enabling the licensing agreement and launch. Axovant originated and structured the cenobamate license but is not contributing capital to Arvelle’s initial financing, which is non-dilutive to Axovant shareholders.

Led · Equity · Nov 2018

Roivant Sciences operates a platform model to create medicines by launching nimble 'Vants'—focused biopharmaceutical and health-technology start-ups. It recently unveiled VantAI, a computational drug-discovery platform for designing and optimizing targeted protein degraders, which began development in early 2019. VantAI has designed degraders for six unique targets to date, and Roivant aims to bring its first candidate from that platform into the clinic in 2021. To support the program and its expansion, Roivant secured a $200 million equity investment as part of a strategic partnership. The funding and partnership are intended to help Roivant build a protein-degrader pipeline and establish multiple biotech start-ups around the platform. The company emphasizes targeted protein degradation as a modality that can improve potency and selectivity and enable targeting of difficult-to-drug proteins. Roivant Sciences is a biotech holding company that builds and funds independent biopharmaceutical subsidiaries, often branded with the “vant” suffix. The firm’s strategy is to create one independent company at a time and serve as an umbrella and financier for those spin-offs. Examples include Axovant (neurology), Myovant (women’s health/endocrine), Dermavant (dermatology), Enzyvant (rare diseases), Urovant (urology) and Datavant (healthcare data middleware), as well as newer spin-offs Immunovant, Altavant and Sinovant. Roivant now oversees 14 subsidiaries, employs about 750 people and reports 34 drugs in development. Financially, the company has raised more than $3 billion in total and recently completed a $200M financing at a $7B post-money valuation. The company has faced setbacks (notably Axovant’s failed Alzheimer’s and DLB trials) and conducted layoffs and employee reassignments in June, but continues to support subsidiary financings (for example, Datavant raised $40.5M earlier this year led by Roivant). Roivant builds and operates subsidiary biopharma companies (each with “vant” in the name) that acquire and advance abandoned or shelved drug candidates toward commercialization. Its subsidiaries include Axovant (neurology), Myovant (women’s health/endocrine), Dermavant (dermatology), Enzyvant (rare diseases) and Urovant (urology). Roivant is also launching Datavant, a tech-focused subsidiary aimed at using AI to unlock insights in healthcare datasets, improve trial design, enable virtual pooled-placebo trials, and identify molecular targets. The company was founded by Vivek Ramaswamy in 2014 and is based in Basel, Switzerland. Roivant has taken subsidiaries public: Axovant completed a 2015 IPO that raised $360 million (its shares opened at $15 and were trading at $23 at the time of the article) and Myovant went public in 2016. Prior financings include investments from hedge funds such as Viking Global Investors, QVT Financial, and Dexcel Pharma. The company’s strategy focuses on quickly advancing clinical-stage assets by forming focused operating subsidiaries around each asset.

Participated · Series E · Apr 2013

Revance Therapeutics develops novel botulinum toxin products and a TransMTS® delivery platform intended to enable local, targeted transdermal delivery without needles. Its lead investigational product, RT001 topical gel, is in U.S. Phase 3 trials for crow’s feet and in Phase 2 for hyperhidrosis and chronic migraine. RT002 is an injectable neurotoxin combining Revance’s purified botulinum toxin with TransMTS peptide technology and is in Phase 1/2 trials. The company plans to use recently raised proceeds to support its U.S. Phase 3 RT001 program and other neuromodulation clinical studies. Revance states the financing will further expand ongoing clinical trials and advance development of RT001 and RT002. The company is privately held and is conducting multiple clinical programs concurrently. Revance Therapeutics is a privately held specialty biopharmaceutical company that developed the TransMTS™ platform to enable local, targeted delivery of large macromolecules across skin. Its lead investigational product, RT001 Botulinum Toxin Type A Topical Gel, demonstrated safety and statistically significant efficacy in Phase 2 clinical trials. Revance is also developing RT002, a next‑generation injectable botulinum toxin that integrates the TransMTS technology to improve onset of action, increase duration of effect, and limit diffusion away from the treatment site. The company manufactures and holds exclusive, worldwide rights to a family of purified, well‑characterized botulinum toxin molecules that could be used across a range of therapeutic indications, including migraine and rhinitis. Revance plans to advance both its topical and injectable neuromodulation pipeline across aesthetic and therapeutic categories through further late‑stage development. A $45 million financing announced concurrently with the press release will support those development efforts. Revance Therapeutics has developed a proprietary technology that enables delivery of large macromolecules across skin. Its lead product, RT001, is a Botulinum Toxin Type A topical gel intended to reduce crow’s feet by temporarily relaxing muscles around the eye. RT001 demonstrated safety and statistically significant efficacy in Phase 2 clinical trials. The company announced a first $25M closing of a Series D financing (targeting $35M total) to fund next steps. Proceeds are intended to enable RT001’s advancement into Phase 3 studies and to support international expansion of the RT001 program. In conjunction with the financing, Ron Eastman of Essex Woodlands will join Revance’s board of directors. Revance Therapeutics is developing a topical formulation of botulinum toxin type A intended to deliver Botox-like results without injections. The company is also testing its TransMTS technology to enable large botulinum molecules to cross the skin. Revance aims to address low adoption of injected Botox—only about 10% of the targeted market (approximately 25 million women) has used it—citing health concerns and discomfort as barriers. The newly raised capital will advance the lead topical compound through clinical-stage trials. Revance is Mountain View, Calif.–based and has raised $64 million to date from a range of contributors. Its current financing adds venture debt to its funding mix to support near-term clinical development.