Sonoma Biotherapeutics Raises $40M in Series A Funding

Sonoma Biotherapeutics, a South San Francisco, CA and Seattle, WA-based company developing regulatory T cell (Treg) therapies for autoimmune and degenerative diseases, raised $40m in Series A financing.

Backers included Lyell Immunopharma, ARCH Venture Partners, Milky Way Ventures and 8VC.

Led by founder and CEO Jeffrey Bluestone, PhD., Sonoma brings together research, development and manufacturing capabilities in cell therapy and genetic engineering with a team of executives, scientists, board members and investors with extensive experience in the fields of cell therapy and drug discovery.

The goal of Treg therapy is to restore a state of self-tolerance by halting harmful inflammatory responses in autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease and multiple sclerosis, along with degenerative diseases including amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and Alzheimer’s. Tregs have a clear role in many of these conditions. These cells’ natural ability to migrate to inflamed tissues and control harmful immune responses make them ideal for treating a range of conditions. In addition, the ability to engineer Treg cells to target specific disease-causing antigens reduces the potential for unwanted systemic effects.

Sonoma Biotherapeutics is co-founded by four of the foundational scientists in the Treg field:

• Jeff Bluestone, PhD, UCSF faculty member and former CEO and President of the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy, is a leading immunologist who is credited with the discovery of the function of CTLA-4, a receptor that is a critical target of the new generation of cancer immunotherapies.
• Qizhi Tang, PhD, is a translational immunologist and Director of the UCSF Transplantation Research Lab.
• Fred Ramsdell, PhD, an immunologist with nearly three decades of biopharma experience, including early clinical development of immunotherapies, will serve as Sonoma’s Chief Scientific Officer.
• Alexander Rudensky, PhD, is a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator and the Chair of Immunology Program at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, whose research has contributed to the fundamental understanding of the differentiation of Tregs and their role in immune response.

Dr. Rick Klausner, CEO of Lyell Immunopharma and newly appointed Chair of the Sonoma Biotherapeutics Board of Directors.

In this regard, Sonoma Biotherapeutics has entered into a strategic partnership with Lyell that provides both parties with access to technologies and know-how to enhance the durability, stability and specificity of cell therapies in their respective indications of focus. This partnership will further enable Sonoma’s rapid translation of Treg therapies from target identification and discovery, through preclinical and clinical development.

Source. FinSMEs, February 6, 2020

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BioEclipse Therapeutics Raises $7.7M in Series A-1 Financing

BioEclipse Therapeutics, a South San Francisco-based clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, raised $7.7m in Series A-1 financing.

The round, which brought total funding raised to date to $9.3m, was led by Revelis Capital Group, with participation from Tsingyuan Ventures, DEFTA Partners, TSVC (TEEC Angel Fund) and Plum Alley.

The company intends to use the funds to advance lead immunotherapy, CRX-100, into Phase 1b/2a clinical trials in therapy-refractory solid tumors.

Led by Pamela Contag, Ph.D., founder and CEO, BioEclipse Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company committed to delivering curative immuno-oncology therapeutics to patients with cancer. The company is preparing to initiate Phase 1b/2a clinical trials with, CRX-100, a patented, first in class, intravenously delivered, targeted immunotherapy against solid tumors. CRX-100, is being developed to deliver potentially curative treatment to patients over a broad range of tumor types, including some rare pediatric cancers.

BioEclipse also announced the addition of three new board members:

– Mark Frohlich, MD, former Executive Vice President at Juno Therapeutics;

– Elona Baum, Managing Director of DEFTA Partners; and

– Oliver Hopkinson, Co-Founder and Manager of Revelis Capital Group.

Source. FinSMEs, June 24, 2019

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Zipline’s new $190 million funding means it’s the newest billion dollar contender in the game of drones

By  Jonathan Shieber,

With a valuation of over $1 billion and $190 million in new financing, Zipline has become the latest contender to be the leader in the game of drones.

The competition to be a leading vendor of delivery drone services is fierce, but Zipline has already built its billion-dollar business selling its hardware and services as a supplier of medical supplies across emerging markets. It may be among the most tested drone delivery services in the world.

Zipline said it will use the new funds to expand its medical supply delivery services across Africa, the Americas, South Asia, and Southeast Asia. The company said it aims to serve 700 million people with its drones within the next five years.

“There is a growing feeling around the world that technology is not benefitting the vast majority of people, said Zipline chief executive Keller Rinaudo in a statement. “The old conventional wisdom has been that building a successful technology company requires exploiting people’s personal information or hijacking their attention. Zipline wants to establish a new model for success in Silicon Valley by showing the world that the right technology company with the right mission and the best team can help improve the lives of every person on the planet.”

Zipline has done the bulk of its work in Africa. The company recently announced a national program in Ghana, which adds to its work with the Rwandan government — one of the company’s first customers.

Zipline intends to expand its drone delivery services into the U.S. this year, beginning with pilot programs in North Carolina.

The Rise Fund, a global impact investment vehicle managed by the multi-billion dollar private equity firm TPG, joined previous investors Baillie Gifford, GV, Katalyst Ventures, Temasek, Bright Success Capital, Goldman Sachs, Oakhouse Partners, Toyota Tsusho Corp, and the Design to Improve Life Fund, in committing to the $190 million financing.

The capital came in two closes. The first in 2018 and another earlier this year.

In all Zipline has raised $225 million since it was founded to increase access to medical supplies around the world. The company’s service works by enabling healthcare workers to order supplies by text message and have them delivered by drones dispatched from central distribution centers.

The company’s drones have a range of 160 kilometers, a cruising speed of 110 kilometers per hour, and can carry 1.75 kilograms of cargo.

Source. Techcrunch,  Jonathan Shieber, May 17, 2019

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