Hot Longevity Mandate: US Subsidiary of Japanese Pharma

21 Sep

The firm is a pharmaceutical company established in 1997 and is headquartered in California. The firm is the wholly-owned subsidiary of a global pharmaceutical company with headquarters in Japan, that has been in operation since 1848. The company is one of the world’s largest patch manufacturers. The firm is focused on developing innovative products in CNS, oncology, and pain management. In particular, the firm has established a strong global presence in transdermal patch products. The company has several products on the market, including a topical, transdermal patch for post-herpetic neuralgia that provides analgesia to affected nerves and relieve pain. Another product is an injection used for the treatment of cancer, and is the first non-alcohol formulation of docetaxel approved in the USA. The firm is seeking novel products for potential in-licensing and partnering opportunities to strengthen their current pipeline. In addition, the firm is unveiling a new initiative through which the company will provide equity investment to early-stage technologies for which the firm could help leverage clinical development. The size of investment will largely depend on the company’s stage of development, but the company is open to investing up to $5M in initial investment. The firm is seeking global opportunities.

The firm’s business is centered on 3 main indications: CNS, oncology, and pain management. With the new early-stage investment initiative, the firm will focus on topical pain, CNS, and dermatology.

The firm is most interested in new NCEs that can be in integrated with topical delivery technologies, as well as existing chemical entities that have applicability in patch and topical applications. The firm will consider technologies as early as in development/pre-clinical.

The firm has no specific management team requirements. The firm has a development and regulatory team that can help companies with advancing towards FDA approval as well as Asian market entry, particularly Japan. Because the firm has many resources and support to offer to early-stage companies, experienced management team and successful track record would be a plus, but not a requirement.

If you are interested in more information about this investor and other investors tracked by LSN, please email RESI@lifesciencenation.com.

Hot Longevity Mandates: Canada-Based Venture Fund

21 Sep

The firm is a Toronto-based venture capital firm that was founded in 2016. The firm invests out of its second fund, which was initially closed in October 2020 at USD 150 million. Among the 150 million, the firm manages to invest 100 million directly in companies while the other 50 million will invest in funds. The firm focuses on investments in three main sectors: Biopharmaceutical, Healthcare Platform & Services, and Technology (i.e., SAAS, Fintech). The firm provides initial investments at USD 3-5 million, and it will also reserve a further amount for follow-on financing and supports the startups in strategic partnerships. The firm is interested in pre-clinical to clinical-stage biotech companies. The firm invests primarily in North America but also opens to invest in Europe or China.

The firm is looking for new opportunities in the life science space, including therapeutics, diagnostics, and healthcare platforms. The firm’s investments to date have included companies developing in cell therapy, oncology, neuroscience, and drug-discovery platform. The firm is opportunistic in terms of sector, subsectors, and indications. The firm will also consider orphan drugs. Within medical devices and digital health, the firm will only consider companies that already have a USD 10 million minimum revenue. The firm will only co-invest and will prefer to co-invest with well-known lead investors.

The firm does not have specific requirements on companies or management teams.

If you are interested in more information about this investor and other investors tracked by LSN, please email RESI@lifesciencenation.com.

Congratulations to Digital RESI September Innovator’s Pitch Challenge Winners!

16 Sep

By Joey Wong, Investor Research Analyst, LSN

Life Science Nation (LSN) has successfully concluded the 3-Day Digital Redefining Early Stage Investment (RESI) conference. One of the highlights at the conference was the Innovator’s Pitch Challenge (IPC), an opportunity for early-stage companies to pitch live to a panel of investors and industry experts. Nearly 50 companies were featured at this past IPC and over 60 investors and industry experts have participated.

During the 3-Day RESI, each company was featured on a dedicated landing page that hosted their pitch video and supplementary materials. They also participated in a live Q&A session with a panel of judges, who are active investors or industry experts in the space. We were happy to see that the live Q&A sessions have attracted attendees from around the world, many of whom cast a vote for their favorite pitches.

Congratulations to the winners who will receive complimentary tickets to future RESI conferences, and many thanks to all the IPC finalists for their hard work preparing for the event, and to the pitch judges who supported each session with their great feedback. We hope to continue the IPC as a unique opportunity to create conversations between early-stage companies and investors, and we look forward to working with other innovative companies at future events!

1st Place – Cosm Medical

Cosm is bringing personalized medical devices to women suffering from pelvic floor disorders, a common, growing and stigmatized global women’s health issue. Through a seamless digital platform that combines proprietary diagnostics, AI, cloud software, and 3D printing, Cosm is commercializing the world’s first patient-specific pessary, Gynethotics. Our aim is to improve the clinician and patient experience while allowing more women to live and age with dignity and grace.

 

2nd Place – Ciscovery Bio

Ciscovery Bio is a genomics company that enables cis-regulatory modules (CRMs) such as enhancers and promoters for drug development, precision medicine, and biotechnology. Our CRM-based approach empowers (1) screening drugs at the preclinical stage, (2) mapping the genome-drug relationship, (3) developing a novel therapeutic application of existing drugs, and (4) precise expression of transgenes in gene therapy and in Ag biotech. This will bring saving of millions of dollars in drug development, more patient-centric drug treatment, and improvement in gene therapy and GM crops.

 

3rd Place – Celero Systems

Celero Systems has developed a long-acting physiological monitoring and drug delivery capsule. The smart capsule covers a range of enabling technologies including the ability to monitor physiology from inside the GI tract of a patient, and to respond to the detected physiology to treat a range of medical conditions. The capsule resides within the upper GI for a week and is cloud enabled allowing for physiological data to be shared with physicians resulting in improved patient care.

 

UCSF’s Virtual Show is on the Road

16 Sep

By Rory McCann, Marketing Manager & Conference Producer, LSN

Stephanie Marrus, Managing Director of Entrepreneurship at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) is on a mission, one that’s been decades in the making. Starting in marketing, business development, and growing into company leadership and entrepreneurship, Stephanie has built an impressive career that sets her up to effectively train scientific startup founders to succeed. In the age of Covid, she’s taken her show on the virtual road and has impacted hundreds of entrepreneurs globally.

Life Science Nation is proud to host Stephanie and the UCSF Innovation Ventures and Entrepreneurship Program at RESI Partnering Week, September 13-17. Get to know Stephanie and the UCSF Innovation Ventures and Entrepreneurship Program in a recent interview and get started on your entrepreneurial journey with Digital RESI and UCSF! Enrollment is open until Friday, September 17. The next class takes place Wednesday, September 29. Sign up today!

1500+ Meetings at Digital RESI September

16 Sep

By Karen Deyo, Director of Investor Research, Israel BD, LSN

Life Science Nation’s (LSN) virtual events continue to be successful with a global gathering of early-stage startups, as well as the investors and strategic partners looking to invest in them. With attendees representing over 30 countries from 5 continents participating in this week’s Redefining Early Stage Investment (RESI), more than 1500 meetings were booked over the three days of the conference. Individual companies booked up to 40 meetings over the course of the conference, with more than 75% of meetings booked occurring between companies and investors.

RESI-PARTNERING-MEETING-CHART-SEPTEMBER-2021

In addition to an extremely active partnering platform, the panels, workshops and pitch sessions were well-attended and dynamic, with enthusiastic audience participation. RESI events continue to show that even in an all virtual platform, the needle keeps moving forward in the life sciences, bringing life-saving technologies closer and closer to market.

Hot Investor Mandate: Corporate VC Arm of Asian Pharmaceutical Group Invests Up to $20M in Therapeutics Companies, Helps Overseas Companies with Expansion Into Asia

16 Sep

The corporate venture of a publicly listed pharmaceutical group in Asia has successfully invested and established 7 IPO companies in Taiwan and Hong Kong. The firm now focuses on strategic investments which can synergize with its portfolio companies or future business. The firm is open to consider investment opportunities globally, and is willing to help overseas portfolio companies enter into Asia through licensing or joint venture activities. Typical allocation size can range from US$3-20 million.

The firm is investing strategically in selected sectors. Within therapeutics, the firm considers in companies with technology platforms in cell therapy, RNA therapies, bispecific and ADC drugs.  Investment stage can range from preclinical to early clinical stage.  The firm is also interested in investing in early stage CDMO companies in the areas above.


The firm is looking for experienced management teams with proven track records. The firm typically requests a board seat in its portfolio company.

If you are interested in more information about this investor and other investors tracked by LSN, please email mandates@lifesciencenation.com.

Hot Investor Mandate: Investment Arm of Biotech Holding Company Seeks Global, Pre-Clinical Therapeutics Opportunities with Strong Interests in Small Molecule Modalities

16 Sep

The investment division of a publicly traded biotech company is solely dedicated to the identification and success of early-stage, biotech start-ups for the company’s incubation and investment platforms. The company’s commitment is to operate a collaborative platform for innovative biotech companies from around the world, and for anyone aiming to develop an idea with transformative or strong potential.

The investment division firm invests globally in biotech innovation with novel solutions to unmet medical needs across multiple therapeutic areas. Leveraging the parent company’s experience and technical advantages in the field of novel drug R&D, the firm provides both cash and in-kind services (EFS) for their investment. Additionally, based on the need, the firm also offers value-added services in operation and logistic support, BD and Financing assistance, etc. to accelerate the growth of its portfolio companies. The firm can allocate from $500,000 to $5,000,000 of equity capital or convertible notes in seed or Series A.

The firm focuses on novel, preclinical therapeutics and is agnostic to indication, modality and geography. The firm is currently most interested in small molecule first-in-class drugs but is open to considering all drug types. For therapeutics, the firm is open to invest from super early-stage to pre-clinical stage. The firm will not invest in Diagnostics, Medical Devices, or Healthcare IT companies.

The firm does not have specific requirements for companies or management teams.

If you are interested in more information about this investor and other investors tracked by LSN, please email mandates@lifesciencenation.com.

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