Calithera Biosciences: UCSF Spin-out Takes $40 Million First Round

01 Jul 2010

• By Paul Bonanos

An investor syndicate led by Morgenthaler Ventures has backed cancer drug researcher Calithera Biosciences Inc. with $40 million in Series A funding, intended to support development of small-molecule compounds that activate caspases.

An investor syndicate led by Morgenthaler Ventures has backed cancer drug researcher Calithera Biosciences Inc. with $40 million in Series A funding, intended to support development of small-molecule compounds that activate caspases. [See Deal] Morgenthaler led the round alongside US Venture Partners, Advanced Technology Ventures, Delphi Ventures, and Mission Bay Capital. The last is closely affiliated with California Institute for Quantitative Biosciences (QB3), the agency that specializes in commercializing technologies developed at three University of California schools in the Bay Area.

Calithera's key innovation was licensed from co-founder James Wells, PhD, a professor in the University of California, San Francisco's...