Finance Watch: Forma Raises $100m In Quest To Become A Sickle Cell Leader

The firm reorganized to focus on hemoglobinopathies and cancers after Celgene ended a multi-drug partnership. Also, Flagship funds a gene therapy start-up and brings in a business development veteran, Ultragenyx raises $320m in a royalty deal and Paratek secures up to $285m from BARDA. 

Finance Watch

Forma Therapeutics Inc. has gone through a lot of change during the past year after its most lucrative partnership was downsized, but after adding $100m in series D venture capital to its balance sheet the company is ready to execute its new drug development strategy focused on rare hematologic diseases and cancers, including the pyruvate kinase-R (PKR) activator FT-4202 for sickle cell disease.

Cambridge, MA-based Forma hasn’t raised venture capital for seven years, because it brought in hundreds of millions of dollars from partners, including two big collaborations with Celgene Corp. that paid out $757m in upfront, milestone and deal termination fees between 2013 and 2018

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