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Gates Foundation Enlists ProFound in Fight Against Preeclampsia
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By Brian Gormley, WSJ Pro
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Good day. Biotechnology startup ProFound Therapeutics has attracted pharmaceutical companies such as GSK and Pfizer to its technology for uncovering proteins valuable to the search for new drugs.
Now it can add the Gates Foundation to the list of organizations showing interest in its capabilities.
ProFound, launched by Flagship Pioneering in 2020, says its technology has revealed thousands of previously unknown proteins. These molecules can help researchers better understand diseases and serve as the targets for novel therapeutics.
The Gates Foundation has now enlisted ProFound in its search for solutions to a complication of pregnancy that threatens mothers and their children.
The foundation plans to invest up to $35 million in ProFound, including $20 million initially, to help the biotech pursue therapies for preeclampsia, or high blood pressure that shows signs of affecting organs such as the kidneys, and eclampsia, a severe form of preeclampsia.
Preeclampsia affects up to 8% of women who give birth worldwide, according to the World Health Organization, and the only cure is to deliver the baby. Preeclampsia and eclampsia are chronically underdiagnosed and undertreated, according to the Gates Foundation.
ProFound plans to study the placentas and blood of women with and without preeclampsia to reveal proteins involved with the condition. With the help of artificial intelligence, it aims to quickly pinpoint which are likely to be the most valuable to the hunt for treatments, according to Dr. John Lepore, chief executive of ProFound and a CEO-partner with Flagship.
And now on to the news...
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From left: Paul, Hawken and Debra Miller. Debra and husband Paul founded CureDuchenne in 2003 after their son Hawken was diagnosed with Duchenne at age 5. PHOTO: THE MILLER FAMILY
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Venture philanthropy. The nonprofit CureDuchenne through its venture arm has helped startups advance several breakthrough treatments for the rare disorder Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Now it plans to give that investment effort more juice.
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CureDuchenne for more than two decades has raised capital from donors and invested from its balance sheet in biotechs targeting Duchenne, the most common and lethal form of muscular dystrophy. Its venture investments include Avidity Biosciences, which went public in 2020 and was acquired by drugmaker Novartis in February for $12 billion.
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Now the nonprofit plans to raise $50 million for its first dedicated venture-capital fund, an evergreen vehicle that would invest donor capital and reinvest returns in startups. The fund also could better position CureDuchenne to compete with larger nonprofits for deals.
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CureDuchenne is raising the fund now because it believes it has notched enough exits to attract significant funds and because scientific advances are driving toward a cure for the disease, which occurs because of a mutated gene for dystrophin, a protein that helps protect muscle cells and keep them strong.
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13+
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The number of months patients in a late-stage clinical trial of the pancreatic cancer drug Rasonque lived, nearly twice as long as those on chemotherapy alone
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FDA Approves RevMed's Drug for Pancreatic Cancer
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For four decades, cancer researchers fought to disable a stubborn mutation that made pancreatic cancer a death sentence—to little avail. Now, doctors have a medicine that targets the mutation. The Food and Drug Administration’s approval of the drug from Revolution Medicines on Wednesday marks a milestone in treatment of one of the most intractable kinds of tumors. The drug, called Rasonque, helped subjects in a late-stage study live more than 13 months, nearly twice as long as those on chemotherapy alone. When presented at the world’s largest gathering of cancer researchers last spring, the results drew a nearly minute-long standing ovation. Yet the
drug does have side effects, including a harsh rash across the body and gastrointestinal issues.
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OpenAI Is the Sole Investor in Its Latest Venture Fund
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OpenAI is launching a second startup fund—this time pulling from its own balance sheet. An affiliate of the ChatGPT maker filed paperwork on Wednesday indicating it has raised a $400 million sophomore fund. OpenAI launched its first startup fund, a $175 million haul, in 2021. The company itself wasn’t an investor in that first fund, instead raising the capital from outside investors.
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An OpenAI spokesperson confirmed the $400 million fund consists entirely of capital from OpenAI, citing the success of the first fund as the reason for the switch.
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Under the structure of the first fund, OpenAI received a share of the profits made on its investments, but its limited partners scored the bulk of the economic upside.
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Join WSJ The Future of Health
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The Future of Health returns on Oct. 7 in Washington. Join leading investors, policymakers, healthcare executives and innovators for high-level networking and newsroom-led conversations on the trends reshaping healthcare—from GLP-1s and AI diagnostics to mental health, longevity and the cost of care. Learn more here.
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Funds
San Francisco-based Capital F, an early-stage investor focusing on the female economy, closed its debut fund at $17 million to back startups across health and wellness, AI and technology, and digital commerce.
People
Kate Torchilin was named chief executive officer and president of genetic medicine startup Mirai Bio, and CEO-partner at Flagship Pioneering. Mirai also promoted Jagesh V. Shah to chief scientific officer. Torchilin was previously CEO of Hamilton Thorne. Prior to joining Mirai, Shah held leadership roles at Sana Biotechnology and Flagship Pioneering.
Element Science, the maker of a wearable device to monitor patients at high risk of sudden cardiac arrest, appointed Paul Mandina as chief revenue officer, Mark Hughes as chief operating officer, Eric Samuels as chief financial officer, and Cheeka Trikha as head of people and organization.
Exits
McKesson agreed to acquire Precision Medicine Group, a provider of clinical research and biopharma commercialization services, for about $2.25 billion.
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Faro AI, a San Diego-headquartered startup providing structured data and AI infrastructure for clinical development, scored $37.3 million in Series B funding co-led by Merck Global Health Innovation Fund and S32.
Arintra, a San Francisco-based startup providing revenue cycle management for health systems, collected $25 million in Series B funding. Define Ventures led the round, which saw participation from Peak XV Partners, Endeavor Health Ventures, Y Combinator, Counterpart Ventures and others.
Hike Medical, a San Francisco-based medical device supply chain automation startup, secured $22.5 million in seed and Series A funding. Saga Ventures led the investment, which included participation from Indicator Ventures, Fifth Down Capital, RiverPark Ventures and others.
Astromech, a Dallas-based startup using AI to predict biological systems, raised a $20 million investment at a $3.8 billion valuation. Bob Nelsen led the round, which included contributions from Builders VC and others.
Onos Health, a San Francisco-based behavioral health clinical intelligence platform, landed $17 million in Series A funding. Costanoa led the investment, which included participation from Flare Capital Partners and CVS Health Ventures.
OmicsBank, a San Francisco-headquartered clinical data infrastructure startup, snagged nearly $2.3 million in seed funding from Redesign Health.
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A commemorative vial of Moderna and Merck’s cancer vaccine, made in 2017 to mark the first dose given to a patient for clinical testing. MEL MUSTO FOR WSJ
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