Investors and Partners

Venatorx Pharmaceuticals has received equity investments from (in alphabetical order) Abingworth, the AMR Action Fund, BioAdvance, Foresite Capital and Verstant Ventures. In addition, Venatorx has received significant funding awards from the Wellcome Trust; the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), part of the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Service (HHS); CARB-X; the U.S. Department of Defense’s Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA); the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH); and the Wellcome Trust. Venatorx also has license and/or collaboration agreements with Everest Medicines, Global Antibiotic Research and Development Partnership (GARDP), and Roche.


EQUITY INVESTORS


Abingworth is an international investment group dedicated to collaborating with life sciences entrepreneurs to develop their ideas into products that have a dramatic impact on health. With over $1 billion under management, Abingworth invests at all stages of development, from start-ups to publicly traded companies, and across all life sciences sectors. Supporting its portfolio companies with a team of 25 at offices in London, Menlo Park, and Boston, Abingworth has invested in 151 life science companies, completed 65 IPOs and 42 mergers and acquisitions.


The AMR Action Fund is the world’s largest public-private partnership investing in antibiotics, antifungals, and other antimicrobial treatments. The Fund was formed to invest US$1 billion into clinical-stage biotech companies to help bring new antibiotics to market. The concept of the AMR Action Fund was developed by the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers & Associations and its member biopharmaceutical companies, in collaboration with the World Health Organization, the European Investment Bank, and the Wellcome Trust. Investors in the AMR Action Fund include: Almirall; Amgen; Bayer; Boehringer Ingelheim; Boehringer Ingelheim Foundation; Chugai; Daiichi-Sankyo; Eisai; Eli Lilly and Company; the European Investment Bank (with the support of the European Commission under Horizon 2020, the 2014-2020 European Union research and innovation program); GlaxoSmithKline; Johnson & Johnson; LEO Pharma; Lundbeck; Menarini; Merck; Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany; Novartis; Novo Nordisk; Novo Nordisk Foundation; Pfizer; Roche; Shionogi; Takeda; Teva; UCB; and Wellcome Trust.”


BioAdvance provides funding to startup life sciences companies in Southeastern Pennsylvania through its new $50 million Greenhouse Fund. They invest in therapeutics, devices, diagnostics and platform technologies focused on human health. providing pre-seed and seed-stage funding.

Foresite Capital is a multi-stage healthcare and life sciences investment firm with $2 billion in assets under management. The firm seeks to address areas of great unmet medical need by funding and supporting transformative healthcare businesses. Foresite Capital has a uniquely collaborative investment model that benefits from insights generated by its multidisciplinary team of scientists, clinicians, investment analysts and engineers. It applies a rigorous scientific and data-driven approach to investment analysis. Foresite Capital understands the unique business models in healthcare and works closely with the firm’s portfolio companies at all stages of their lifecycle. The firm has offices in San Francisco and New York.

Versant Ventures is a leading healthcare investment firm committed to helping exceptional entrepreneurs build the next generation of great companies. The firm’s emphasis is on biotechnology companies that are discovering and developing novel therapeutics. With US$3 billion under management and offices in the U.S., Canada and Europe, Versant has built a team with deep investment, operating and clinical expertise that enables a hands-on approach to company building. Since the firm’s founding in 1999, more than 70 Versant companies have achieved successful acquisitions or IPOs.


AWARDS, GRANTS & CONTRACTS


BARDA, part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR), was established to aid in securing our nation from chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) threats, as well as from pandemic influenza (PI) and emerging infectious diseases (EID). BARDA supports the transition of medical countermeasures such as vaccines, drugs, and diagnostics from research through advanced development towards consideration for approval by the FDA and inclusion into the Strategic National Stockpile. BARDA’s support includes funding, technical assistance and core services, ranging from a clinical research organization network to Centers for Innovation in Advanced Development and Manufacturing, and a fill-finish manufacturing network. To-date, BARDA has supported 42 FDA approvals for products addressing CBRN, PI, and EID threats. BARDA’s mission is accomplished through successful public-private partnerships with industry to share risk, improve efficiency and accelerate development all while sustaining a marketplace that guarantees continued access to countermeasures vital to our national security.

CARB-X is a global non-profit partnership, led by Boston University, dedicated to accelerating early development antibacterial R&D to address the rising global threat of drug-resistant bacteria. CARB-X funding is provided by the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), part of the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; the Wellcome Trust, a global charity based in the UK working to improve health globally; Germany’s Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF); the UK Department of Health and Social Care’s Global Antimicrobial Resistance Innovation Fund (GAMRIF); the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and with in-kind support from NIAID, part of the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. A non-profit partnership, CARB-X is investing up to US$500 million from 2016-2021 to support innovative antibiotics and other therapeutics, vaccines and rapid diagnostics. CARB-X supports the world’s largest and most innovative pipeline of preclinical products against drug-resistant infections. CARB-X focuses exclusively on high priority drug-resistant bacteria, especially Gram-negatives. CARB-X is headquartered at Boston University School of Law.

The Department of Defense’s Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA), an agency within the United States Department of Defense (DoD), is the official Combat Support Agency for countering weapons of mass destruction (chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and high explosives). DTRA enables DoD, the U.S. government, and international partners to counter and deter weapons of mass destruction and improvised threat networks. Under the auspice of the Chemical and Biological Defense Program, DTRA has the responsibility to manage and integrate the DoD chemical and biological defense science and technology programs. DTRA’s continued effort to enhance the combat support mission also advances public health services by developing innovative technologies that protect against biological threats.

National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) conducts and supports basic and applied research to better understand, treat, and ultimately prevent infectious, immunologic, and allergic diseases. For more than 60 years, NIAID research has led to new therapies, vaccines, diagnostic tests, and other technologies that have improved the health of millions of people in the United States and around the world. NIAID is one of the 27 Institutes and Centers of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).


The Wellcome Trust is a global charity dedicated to achieving extraordinary improvements in human and animal health. It supports the brightest minds in biomedical research and the medical humanities. The Trust’s breadth of support includes public engagement, education and the application of research to improve health. It is independent of both political and commercial interests. VenatoRx has received an investment from the Wellcome Trust for the “Development of novel small molecules for the treatment of antibiotic resistant bacterial infections.”


LICENSE AND/OR COLLABORATION PARTNERS



In September 2018, Venatorx Pharmaceuticals entered into an exclusive license agreement with Everest Medicines Limited (HKEX:1952.HK) to support the development, registration and commercialization of cefepime-taniborbactam in Greater China, South Korea, and select countries in Southeast Asia. Everest will be solely responsible for the commercialization of cefepime-taniborbactam in its territory and Venatorx will be eligible to receive royalties on net sales.

In April 2020, Venatorx and the Global Antibiotic Research and Development Partnership (GARDP) announced a collaboration to accelerate the development of, and access to, cefepime-taniborbactam for adult and pediatric populations. Venatorx has granted GARDP exclusive rights to distribute and sub-distribute cefepime-taniborbactam, once it is approved for clinical use, in low- and lower-middle-income countries.