Antibiotics that treat drug-resistant infections. Vegetables that taste richer and last longer on the shelf. An “invisible” medical device that’s transforming the lives of the hearing impaired.
Those breakthroughs were all spawned from the life sciences companies we’ve helped. They are but three of many. Each has a story to tell about following our path to success.
Whether our portfolio companies generated revolutionary ideas that transformed a market, or an evolutionary one that improved an existing product, the outcome was the same. We were able to open doors, to recruit talent, and to guide them through critical milestones and beyond.
It wasn’t always easy; the path to great rewards seldom is. But like every company we work with, we brought to the front a command of the deep science behind the idea and street-smarts found only in those who’ve devoted their lives to building companies.
- Portfolio Companies:
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Arcadia Biosciences
Arcadia Biosciences develops and commercializes agriculture-based technologies that create value for growers and consumers while benefiting the environment and enhancing human health.
www.arcadiabio.com -
Arcion Therapeutics
Arcion Therapeutics applies breakthroughs in neuroscience to advance the treatment of chronic pain. The company focuses on innovative topical treatments to provide pain relief with convenient application and reduced systemic side effects. Arcion’s product pipeline comprises multiple candidates to treat neuropathic pain.
www.arciontherapeutics.com -
Ardelyx™
Ardelyx™ develops therapeutics acting exclusively in the gastrointestinal tract and devoid of systemic exposure. Our drug candidates target important diseases, as well as pathologies with a specific inflammatory pathway. Our technology relies on non-absorbable small molecules with highly specific modes of action. The quasi-absence of systemic uptake greatly reduces potential side effects and toxicity while concentrating the drug at the locus of action, i.e. the GI tract.
www.ardelyx.com -
Auspex Pharmaceuticals
Auspex Pharmaceuticals, a clinical stage company, is a pioneer in the targeted application of deuterium to clinically validated drugs with the goal of imparting greater efficacy and safety over existing agents and has secured a proprietary position on more than a 180 compounds across a wide range of therapeutic areas. The pipeline of promising drug candidates addresses a number of therapeutic areas, including inflammation, anti-infectives, pain and other CNS areas.
www.auspexpharma.com -
Baxano, Inc.
Baxano, Inc., based in San Jose, California, is focused on developing minimally invasive tools to restore spine function and preserve healthy tissue. Baxano is a well funded, privately held company which was founded in 2005 by Jeffery Bleich, M.D., who had the vision to create flexible tools to provide precision lumbar decompression from the “inside out”.
www.baxano.com -
Bayhill Therapeutics
Bayhill Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company at the forefront of developing novel and targeted treatment candidates for autoimmune diseases. Leveraging its proprietary therapeutic BHT-DNA™ platform, the Company’s product candidates are designed to restore patient’s immunological “tolerance” to self antigens to a normal state by selectively eliminating specific, harmful immune responses while leaving the rest of the immune system intact. Through a targeted and selective approach, Bayhill’s product candidates have the potential to deliver superior efficacy, safety and tolerability relative to current therapies.
www.bayhilltherapeutics.com -
BioMimetic Therapeutics, Inc.
BioMimetic Therapeutics, Inc. is developing and commercializing regenerative protein-device combination products for the healing of musculoskeletal injuries and disease, including orthopedic, spine and sports injury applications. BioMimetic received marketing approval from the FDA for its first product, GEM 21S®, as a grafting material for bone and periodontal regeneration following completion of human clinical trials, which demonstrated the safety and efficacy of the rhPDGF-BB platform technology. Additionally, the Company has both completed and ongoing clinical trials with its product candidates Augment and Augment Injectable in multiple orthopedic bone healing indications including the treatment of foot and ankle fusions and the stimulation of healing of fractures of the wrist. BioMimetic’s previously approved product and lead product candidates all combine recombinant protein therapeutics (rhPDGF-BB) with tissue specific scaffolds to actively stimulate tissue healing and regeneration.
GEM 21S is the registered trademark of Luitpold Pharmaceuticals, Inc., who now owns and markets that product.
www.biomimetic.com -
Ensemble Therapeutics Corporation
Based in Cambridge, MA, Ensemble Therapeutics is deploying its proprietary chemistry platforms to develop a novel class of therapeutics known as “Ensemblins”. Ensemble is the exclusive worldwide licensee from Harvard University of its patents covering DNA-Programmed Chemistry. Ensemble is pursuing a proprietary drug pipeline and also collaborations with pharmaceutical partners. Ensemble has two drug discovery alliances with Bristol-Myers Squibb (April 2009) and Pfizer (January 2010). Ensemble’s lead proprietary programs are in the inflammatory disease field. EnsemblinsTM are a new class of synthetic macrocycles developed by Ensemble using its proprietary chemistry platforms, including DNA-Programmed ChemistryTM. Macrocyclic rings are found in many natural product-based drugs and bestow favorable pharmaceutical properties and powerful protein surface binding properties upon such drugs. Thus, macrocycles are uniquely suited to address many protein targets that cannot be modulated effectively by traditional small molecule pharmaceutical compounds. Macrocycles have been challenging to synthesize in large numbers and this has constrained their wider use in the industry. Ensemble has produced larger collections of macrocyclic drug candidates than any previously synthesized in the pharmaceutical industry.
www.ensembletherapeutics.com -
Exela Pharma Sciences
Exela PharmSci, Inc. develops noninfringing pharmaceutical formulations that will be marketed as branded or generic alternatives to established name-brand products. Exela has multiple products in advanced stages of filing and/or commercialization with partners. Exela’s product portfolio spans several therapeutic categories and dosage forms, such as oral, injectable, and ophthalmic. In addition to its R&D center in Hyderabad, India, Exela owns a 20,000 sqft cGMP sterile manufacturing facility in Lenoir, North Carolina. The Lenoir facility can handle cytotoxic, high-potency compounds, and manufacture clinical Phase I-III as well as commercial scale products that are terminally sterilized or asceptically processed.
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Kalypsys
Kalypsys is a San Diego based biopharmaceutical company with clinical stage pharmaceutical products. Central to our pipeline expansion is epiK™ – a proprietary and highly automated small molecule drug discovery platform. epiK™ is the seamless integration of a powerful discovery Engine and a motivated team of talented People that enables Innovation in drug discovery and development at Kalypsys.
www.kalypsys.com -
MacroGenics
Founded in 2000, MacroGenics is a private, fully-integrated biotechnology company headquartered in Rockville, Maryland, that focuses on the development, manufacture, and commercialization of immunotherapeutics for autoimmune disorders, cancer, and infectious diseases. In October 2007, MacroGenics, Inc. and Eli Lilly and Company announced a global strategic alliance to develop and commercialize teplizumab, a humanized anti-CD3 monoclonal antibody, as well as other potential next-generation anti-CD3 molecules for use in the treatment of autoimmune diseases. Teplizumab is currently being studied in the PROTéGé trial, a global pivotal Phase II/III clinical trial for individuals with recent-onset Type 1 diabetes. In July 2008, MacroGenics acquired Raven Biotechnologies, Inc., a privately held biotechnology company in South San Francisco, California, focused on the discovery and development of monoclonal antibody therapeutics for oncology through its cancer stem-like cell program. MacroGenics’ proprietary DART (Dual Affinity Re-Targeting) and Fc-optimization technologies offer ways to improve the function of antibodies and similar molecules.
www.macrogenics.com -
Neos Therapeutics
Neos Therapeutics is a specialty pharmaceutical company that focuses on time-release technologies. We have developed a broad, cutting-edge portfolio of processes that allow for tailored and independent release profiles of single and multiple ingredients.
www.neostx.com -
Sorbent Therapeutics
Sorbent Therapeutics is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of adaptable non-absorbed polymeric drugs to satisfy unmet clinical needs in large markets such as End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD), Congestive Heart Failure (DHF), Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD), and Hypertension.
www.sorbentrx.com -
SurgiQuest
SurgiQuest, Inc. is a private venture-backed company, founded in May 2006. It develops, manufactures, and markets innovative technology for minimally invasive surgery.
SurgiQuest’s patented AirSeal™ access system presents a significant technological breakthrough in minimally invasive surgery (MIS). The AirSeal system provides unobstructed access to the abdominal cavity and dramatically reduces variations of intra-abdominal pressure due to its ability to completely eliminate seals and gaskets. SurgiQuest’s unique and unencumbered approach to MIS enables new surgical approaches, such as single incision surgery as well as a host of new instrument platforms.
www.surgiquest.com -
Vallinex
Vallinex Inc is developing highly-selective, locally-administered injectable treatments for chronic pain conditions. Its lead product, VLNX-4975 is in clinical developed to treat the pain associated with osteoarthritis and other chronic pain conditions. By targeting only the pain fibers, VLNX-4975 is able to produce significant analgesia with minimal side effects. In clinical studies to date VLNX-4975 has shown promising results to provide long-term relief of pain from a single treatment.
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Velocity Pharmaceutical Development
Velocity Pharmaceutical Development provides a new way to develop promising drug candidates that are underserved or overlooked. Our team of industry veterans will evaluate stranded drug candidates that may have clinical promise and significant market potential. Our expert team will select the best of the best and design an accelerated program to achieve the greatest value inflection - from proof in mouse to proof in man - in the shortest amount of time. We are creating a company that is highly virtual: one development team for many compounds.
www.vpd.net -
VeraLight
VeraLight is a medical device company established in 2004 to focus on a comprehensive approach to non-invasive diabetes and pre-diabetes screening with the proprietary SCOUT DS™ system. Our mission is to help stem the tide of the worldwide diabetes epidemic by driving early diabetes detection, thus enabling initiation of therapies that can prevent diabetes or reduce its complications. The company develops and acquires intellectual property, products, and services that contribute to this mission.
www.veralight.com