In recent years, most venture capital firms have focused on investing in companies with well-developed product pipelines. In this issue of START-UP, we profile two trendsetters: Fred Cohen, managing director at Texas Pacific Group Ventures; and Christoph Westphal, formerly a partner at Polaris Ventures and now vice chairman and CEO of Sirtris Pharmaceuticals. Both men are physician scientists turned investors, who have tapped into their scientific and clinical knowledge to make investments in "high concept" discovery stage companies. And although the investments are intriguing, it's too early to say whether or not the strategies adopted by these two men will yield returns for their backers.
By Ellen Foster Licking and Christopher Morrison
Fred Cohen, MD, DPhil, and Christoph Westphal, MD, PhD, despite not having the track record of some of their more experienced peers, are two of the more interesting biotech venture...
Read the full article – start your free trial today!
Join thousands of industry professionals who rely on Scrip for daily insights
Deal snapshot: With several internal non-opioid pain candidates in Phase II or earlier, Lilly looks to add R&D potential in pain with $1bn buyout of SiteOne.
GlycoEra unveiled a $130m series B financing, saying the proceeds would enable it to take its first clinical candidate through proof-of-concept in autoimmune diseases.
In this week's episode: Novo Nordisk’s CEO forced out; quantifying biopharma’s contribution to the US economy; a history of MASH deals; lift for AstraZeneca’s asthma ambitions; and major Japanese firms see US revenue growth.
Following an FDA complete response in 2022, Gilead is getting ready to refile bulevirtide for hepatitis D. The drug already is approved in the EU, UK and elsewhere.
