Be Biopharma, US-based startup has raised US$ 52 million in Series A round led by Atlas Venture and RA Capital Management, with other participants including Longwood Fund, Takeda Ventures held in October 2020.
This Massachusetts-based innovator will use the fund to build its team to develop B-cell therapies for a variety of diseases, building on the groundbreaking work conducted by Dr Rawlings and Dr James at Seattle Children’s Research Institute. The 10-person startup aims to use gene-editing tools like CRISPR/Cas9 and homologous recombination, which is the method by which cell repair occurs in the DNA to alter the immune system’s B cells, enabling them to produce useful proteins.
The company which is located in Cambridge is capitalizing early research made by scientists at the University of Washington School of Medicine.
What the founders have to say
“Be Bio is capitalizing on the unique attributes of B cells to create a new category of medicine that is distinct from traditional cell or gene therapy,” said David Steinberg, Chief Executive Officer, co-founder and Director at Be Biopharma.
“Our mission is to develop what we see as a new class of cell medicines that have a broad new pharmacology,” he said of B cells’ potential. “We think it’s a big new white space that’s enabled by the rich biology of these cells,” said Aleks Radovic-Moreno, Ph.D., Be Biopharma’s co-founder, president and director.
The challenges involved being able to efficiently edit the cells and then make them in sufficient quantities. Those are the two big problems we have overcome,” he also added.
About Be Biopharma
Be Biopharma is a pioneer in developing B cells as medicines and treating disease by using the human body’s native protein factories. They engineer B cells to harness its intrinsic drug-like properties to make way for a new category of cell therapy, for diseases like cancer, autoimmune conditions and enzyme deficiency. It was founded by Longwood Fund and experts David Rawlings, MD, and Richard James, PhD.
About Atlas Venture
Atlas Venture is an early-stage venture capital firm that invests in biotech startup companies led by innovative entrepreneurs focusing on life science. It was founded in 1980 by Michiel de Haan. It has a seed-led venture creation strategy where it rigorously selects and concentrates investment on the most intriguing opportunities to build scalable businesses and make value.
About RA Capital Management
RA Capital Management is a multi-stage investment manager based in Boston, USA. It specialises in life sciences and drug development sectors. It was founded by Richard Aldrich in 2001.
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