Cullinan To Search For Oncology’s Diamonds In The Rough

Privately held Cullinan Oncology LLC is launching with a $150m Series A financing, using a model of taking stand-alone cancer projects that other companies might turn down as too risky through Phase II proof-of-concept, and then – hopefully – monetizing them.

Backed by MPM Capital and F2 Ventures, Cullinan derives from the former’s UBS Oncology Impact Fund (IOF) as well as the strategic thinking of CEO Owen Hughes and a pair of chief scientific officers, Patrick Bauerle and Leigh Zawel – both also managing directors at MPM. Bauerle, heading up biologics, co-founded four prior MPM oncology biotechs and was VP of research at Amgen Inc. and CSO at Micromet Inc., while Zawel, overseeing small molecules, served as VP of therapeutic innovation at Pfizer Inc. and also worked at Merck & Co. Inc