Third Rock biotech startups find work-share partner in Cytokinetics

Cytokinetics' Robert Blum.

There's a line of thought in the cash-sucking biotech world that once a small company gets a drug into the clinic -- especially if investors want to accelerate their return -- that it winds down research operations. Robert Blum doesn't buy it. Instead, the president and CEO ofCytokinetics Inc. (NASDAQ: CYTK) has discovered a way to help pay for his research staff while awaiting the results of a handful of clinical trials: Rent out their expertise.

Startup heart drug developer MyoKardia lands $38M Third Rock investment

James Spudich.

Third Rock Ventures is backing an all-star lineup of cardiovascular researchers with a $38 million Series A round to discover and develop drugs aimed at key genetic heart mutations. MyoKardia Inc., which will operate from South San Francisco lab space next to fellow Third Rock startup Global Blood Therapeutics Inc., is aimed at a putting together pipeline of small-molecule drugs that initially will treat hypertrophic anddilated cardiomyopathy.

Drug developer CytomX expands Series B by $11 million, looks to make key hires

CytomX Therapeutics Inc. expanded its $41 million Series B financing round byadding $11 million from venture capital firmCanaan Partners. The South San Francisco company, which in September 2010 raised $30 million from Third Rock Ventures and Roche Venture Fund, is developing highly targeted antibodies, which it calls Probodies. Those potential cancer and inflammatory disease treatments unmask their antibody-drug payloads only when they enter the "microenvironment" of diseases.

Third Rock pumps $40.7 million into sickle cell startup Global Blood Therapeutics

Drug developers talk a lot about “large patient populations,” “unmet medical needs” and a “clear path to approval.” Yet sickle cell disease, one of the knottiest diseases meeting all those criteria, has gone years without a breakthrough commercial treatment.
That might prove an advantage for Global Blood Therapeutics Inc., the first company birthed by Third Rock Ventures LLC’s West Coast office.

Third Rock and Global Blood announced Thursday morning that it is backing the South San Francisco startup with $40.7 million in Series A financing to discover and develop oral, small molecule drugs to treat sickle cell disease and other conditions involving funky-shaped blood proteins. Essentially, its drugs will aim at pushing those proteins into healthier shapes that change the course of the diseases.

Biotech rivalry: Heritage favors Bay Area, but is Boston the future?

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If South San Francisco’s Oyster Point Boulevard is the gateway to biotech’s birthplace, One Kendall Square in Cambridge may be the highway to the industry’s future.

With increasing amounts of seed, startup and early-stage venture cash, a $10 billion state program and a mixture of biotech startups, mature Big Pharma companies and academic interests within walking distance of each other, the Boston area is surging.

Onyx Pharmaceuticals CEO Tony Coles headlines SF Business Times Biotech Forum — June 14

Onyx Pharmaceuticals CEO Tony Coles will headline the San Francisco Business Times' annual Biotech Forum.
The event begins with registration at 7:30 a.m. Thursday, June 14, at the Hilton San Francisco Union Square, 333 O'Farrell St.
Coles will be interviewed on stage by San Francisco Business Times biotech reporter Ron Leuty before joining a panel of Bay Area biotech industry experts. In addition to Coles, the panel will feature:
• Gideon Bollag, senior vice president for research, Plexxikon;
• Lissa Goldenstein, president and CEO, Auxogyn;
• Craig Muir, partner, Third Rock Ventures; and
• Glenn Oclassen, president and CEO, Transcept Pharmaceuticals.
Additionally, the event will feature presentations from three up-and-coming Bay Area life sciences companies -- Avalanche Biotechnologies, Organ-i and Neuraltus Pharmaceuticals -- about their businesses and the big scientific problems they are trying to solve.
Christie Smith, principal and West region life sciences leader at Deloitte Consulting LLP, will give opening remarks.

To order tickets for the event, call or email Jacquie Bischoff at 415-288-4972 or jbischoff@bizjournals.com. Tickets cost $70 per person or $750 for a table of 10.

CytomX names Hoyoung Huh as chairman

Antibody development company CytomX Therapeutics Inc. named biotech veteran Dr. Hoyoung Huh as chairman.
The privately held company, which moved to South San Francisco after lining up $30 million in financing in 2010, is developing monoclonal antibodies that can target specific tissues in cancer, inflammatory disease and autoimmune conditions.

A new biotech model? Cytokinetics rents space, expertise to Third Rock startup

When scientists at Cytokinetics Inc. have a question about contract research work they’re doing for a biotech startup, they don’t have far to go — just a few steps.
Biotech companies for years have taken on contract research projects, but the landlord-as-contractor arrangement between South San Francisco’s Cytokinetics and venture-backed Global Blood Targeting Inc. marks the latest model to bring money in the door while cutting costs.
For Global Blood, funded by Third Rock Ventures and working on a drug for sickle cell anemia, the move allows it to tap experienced researchers and reduce its startup costs. Publicly held Cytokinetics, meanwhile, keeps valued scientists busy and reduces its net cash burn, thanks to Global Blood payments for space and research work.

Topica raises $27M Series B round

Topica Pharmaceuticals Inc. closed a $27 million Series B financing.
The round led by Third Rock Ventures and existing investors Prospect Venture Partners and Yasuda Enterprise Development Corp. Ltd.

SF life sciences hub lures East Coast venture firms

A second wave of venture capital firms is bringing an East Coast accent to Mission Bay.
OrbiMed Advisors LLC of New York and Boston-based Third Rock Ventures have set up operations at 455 Mission Bay Blvd. South above Bayer HealthCare’s research center. Third Rock took 2,000 square feet for its West Coast office, while VC titan OrbiMed moved to larger quarters that can accommodate up to 10 people.