Kleiner Perkins to back early-stage biotechs with $525M fund

Posted under Auxogyn, Beth Seidenberg, Biotech Venture Capital, Blog, Celladon, Companies, Diagnostics, Epizyme, Foundation Medicine, Funding, iPierian, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Medical Devices, Medical Supply, Pharmaceuticals, Pipeline, Startups, Tesaro, Universities, Videos by John Carroll

Beth Seidenberg, Investment Partner--Source: KPCB

Kleiner Perkins Caulfield & Byers has closed the books on a new $525 million fund. And a chunk of that treasure is earmarked for early-stage life science companies promising to satisfy Kleiner Perkins' trademark appetite for disruptive new technologies.

"Portfolio companies in KPCB 15 will benefit from the firm's holistic approach to company building that we pioneered more than a decade ago," said Ted Schlein, partner at KPCB, in a statement. "We will identify promising early-stage companies in our areas of focus and bring value-added resources in key areas to help early-stage companies grow and succeed. This includes applying our considerable industry, operational and financial expertise and network of relationships to help entrepreneurs build lasting enterprises."

Among the group of partners with a key to the cash box is Beth Seidenberg, the former chief medical officer at Amgen ($AMGN) who has been handling the fund's investments in Tesaro, Epizyme, iPierian and Auxogyn, among others. KPCB has also invested in Foundation Medicine and Celladon. 

Seidenberg's interest in biotech goes well beyond the boardroom. She's been one of the leading forces at the Medical Innovation and Competitiveness Coalition, which joined up with the National Venture Capital Association to apply pressure on the FDA to change. The lobbying effort has helped inspire new legislation aimed at speeding drug approvals while putting the FDA on the defensive about its regulatory track record.

"The major problem is the lack of predictability, which leads to delayed timelines," Seidenberg told The Wall Street Journal last fall. "Entrepreneurs are smart people, and they want to get their products to patients. And because of the lack of transparency, and the lack of consistency (at FDA), they are moving to Europe, setting up their organizations and creating jobs overseas." 

- here's the press release

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Corporate VCs crowd into $43M round for Celladon

Posted under Biotech Venture Capital, Blog, Celladon, Companies, Diagnostics, Funding, Medical Devices, Medical Supply, Pharmaceuticals, Startups, Universities, Videos by John Carroll

La Jolla, CA-based Celladon has rounded up a $43 million capital injection from a gang of venture groups which includes several prominent Big Pharma investors. Pfizer Venture Investments led the round, and was joined by Novartis Venture Funds, Johnson & Johnson Development Corporation, Lundbeckfond Ventures--an independent group owned by the Lundbeck Foundation--H&Q Healthcare/Life Sciences Investors, GBS Venture Partners and Venrock Associates.

The money will be used to engineer late-stage work on Mydicar, a heart failure treatment that recently gained fast-track status at the FDA. It also marks a major milestone for Celladon, which announced five years ago that it had raised $30 million from Kleiner Perkins and others to get Mydicar into the clinic.

Back in June Celladon released promising data from its mid-stage study of Mydicar, a treatment designed to replenish a depleted stock of enzymes in patients with advanced heart failure. The high-dose group in the small study saw a significant drop in time spent in the hospital, a big expense for payers covering a growing population of people who suffer from advanced heart failure. A year after therapy the high dose group also reflected an 88% reduction in the risk of subsequent major cardiovascular events, such as transplants and death.

"We are pleased to have attracted such a top tier syndicate to support advancement of Mydicar for the benefit of advanced heart failure patients," said Krisztina Zsebo, Ph.D., the CEO of Celladon Corporation. "The positive results of the phase II CUPID Trial demonstrated the potential of Mydicar to become an important treatment for patients with chronic, advanced heart failure."

- here's the press release