Newly Formed Company Gains Celgene, Versant Ventures Backing

Newly Formed Company Gains Celgene, Versant Backing December 19, 2016
By Mark Terry, BioSpace.com Breaking News Staff

Healthcare investment firm Versant Ventures announced today that one of its portfolio companies, Northern Biologics, headquartered in Toronto, has merged with Mosaic Biomedicals SL. Mosaic Biomedicals is located in Barcelona, Spain, and was co-founded by Joan Seoane, the director of translational research at the Vall d’Hebron Institute of Oncology in Barcelona.

As part of the merger, Northern Biologics picks up a Phase I-ready oncology drug that targets leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF), a molecule expressed in certain solid tumors.

“Mosaic Biomedicals has a very exciting molecule—which is the first antibody targeting LIF—to go into the clinic next year,” Stefan Larson, Northern’s chief executive officer, told Endpoints News. “Northern Biologics has a larger infrastructure and we saw an opportunity to bring that into Northern Biologics to accelerate our pipeline.”

No details about the finances of the deal have been released, although Endpoints’ John Carroll writes that “it’s not a trivial amount. Aside from Versant’s initial $10 million round, Celgene has already sunk $30 million into the company in the spring of 2015, when it first acquired the option to buy.” Versant expanded its Series A commitment to the company and Celgene exercised its option to buy some of the rights to the MSC-1 program under its current deal with Northern.

Northern indicates that it hopes to begin clinical trials in several tumor types next year, with multiple sites planned in Europe and North America.

Seoane joined Northern Biologics’ board of directors. Mosaic co-founder Jose Baselga will act as chair and senior medical advisor to the scientific advisory board. Guido Magni, a partner at Versant Ventures also joins the SAB as a lead clinical advisor. Magni is formerly global head of the medical science department of Roche Pharmaceuticals (RHHBY).

“I’m pleased to welcome Dr. Seoane to the board of Northern Biologics and excited for Dr. Baselga and Dr. Magni to lead our SAB efforts,” said Brand Bolzon, Versant’s board chairman and managing director, in a statement. “This deal, along with additional financing, is a critical step in building Northern into a world-class oncology company that can deliver new therapies for patients with difficult-to-treat cancers.”

Robert Wasserman will also join Northern Biologics as chief medical officer, and to lead the clinical development of MSC-1. Wasserman was previously vice president, global therapeutic area head of oncology at Covance .

Versant Ventures has put an emphasis on building its presence in Canada. “Since launching investment activities in Canada three years ago, our progress toward building a world-class biotech portfolio has exceeded any of our expectations,” Bolzon said in a statement. “It is a testament to the quality of the Canadian academic research community and the commitment of key stakeholders in government and the private sector to build a viable biotech ecosystem that can compete with all other global players.”

Most recent Canadian activity includes Turnstone Biologics recently completing one of the largest-ever Series B financings for a Canadian biotech in November. A week ago it debuted BlueRock Therapeutics, a stem cell company jointly launched by Versant and Bayer with a Series A commitment of $295 million (CAN). Versant has also created a network of laboratories across Canada called Discovery Engines. These Discovery Engines include Inception Sciences in Vancouver and Montreal, and Blueline Bioscience in Toronto. New projects have been launched in oncology, ophthalmology and inflammatory diseases.

“A common theme is to catalyze the creation of companies and accelerate their maturation with our own resources and those of global pharmaceutical partners,” said Jerel Davis, Versant’s managing director, in a statement. “Our pan-Canadian portfolio spans multiple indications, with new companies built on world-class science and strategic partnerships. These startups need the capital resources to be successful, which historically had been a shortcoming of Canadian biotechs.”

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