New Biotech VC Vehicle Pledges Series A Funding Aid
A new venture capital vehicle launched by a group of biotech entrepreneurs is designed to act as a seed investor as well as a drug discovery co-pilot for biotech startups that need help with Series-A financing.
CEO of the new Curie.bio platform is Zach Weinberg, founder of Flatiron Health, which was acquired by Roche in 2018. Alexis Borisy, a former Third Rock Ventures partner, and Christoph Lengauer, also formerly of Third Rock, will serve as chief scientific officer.
The new startup-promoter combines an investing vehicle to provide seed-stage money to young biotechs with a unit that is dedicated to provide various services to help companies take their technology forward.
Curie.bio, which has already taken at least four companies on board – Forward Therapeutics, Astoria Biologica, Decrypt Biomedicine and Differentiated Therapeutics – claims to have raised altogether $520 million to support its mission. According to its website, the team has also brought more than 60 drugs into the clinic.
The platform’s process begins with selecting as yet insufficiently funded therapeutics companies with the goal of showing them how reach a series- A financing round, acquisition and/or partnership.
Along with a seed work plan, Curie’s so-called “co-pilots” will help the fledgling biotechs develop other essentials, such as a budget, timeline, vendor selection, expert recruiting and a roadmap to critical scientific milestones.
For the chosen companies selected, the venture capital backers promise to put down $5-7 million in funding, coupled with the opportunity to raise more capital.
Author: Dede Williams, Freelance Journalist
