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Business
Measuring a serial entrepreneur’s success
By any yardstick, Robert Langer’s creation of 31 start-ups is a testament to his technical and business acumen
by Ann M. Thayer
August 8, 2016
| A version of this story appeared in
Volume 94, Issue 32
Langer’s entrepreneurial journey has led to more than 30 start-ups over 30 years.
Bind Therapeutics, a 10-year-old nanomedicine firm, declared bankruptcy in May and last month agreed to sell its assets to Pfizer. Although collaborations with leading drug companies had helped Bind move candidates into the clinic, it achieved mixed results there. Toward the end, it was trying to restructure its finances, refocus its R&D, and partner its lead candidate.
Although such downturns are common in the drug R&D world, this one was a rare setback for a firm based on technology from the lab of chemical engineer Robert Langer at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
By the time Bind was founded in 2006, Langer had already helped create at least 20 companies, generally in the areas of medical devices, drug delivery and development, and tissue and cell engineering. Although there are other notable scientist-entrepreneurs, such as the Institute for Systems Biology’s Leroy Hood and Harvard University’s Gregory Verdine, it is likely that Langer’s record as an inventor and company creator is unsurpassed in the chemistry, engineering, and materials science worlds.
The proof is in the pudding. Over three decades, Langer has helped found about 30 companies that have raised an estimated $2 billion in venture capital and private equity funding to date. A large chunk of that—$650 million—went to the mRNA drug company Moderna Therapeutics. And although it’s still early in the life of many Langer companies, they are clearly amassing a remarkable record of accomplishment.
In the start-up world, accomplishment can be measured many ways. Investors generally want to see companies get acquired or hold an initial public offering (IPO) of stock. Barring those two options, a company is expected to turn a profit or shut down.
Among companies connected to Langer, nine have become publicly traded, raising more than $300 million combined through IPOs—and more through follow-on offerings. Recently, Selecta Biosciences managed to raise a respectable $70 million despite a challenging period for IPOs.
On par with other venture-backed start-ups, 10 of his companies were acquired and three merged with other firms. The deals were worth as much as $230 million. At least four Langer-connected companies have themselves created new start-ups.
On average, according to the National Venture Capital Association, about 200 biotech and medical device firms receive initial venture capital funding in a given year. That Langer has been able to start up at least one company, if not two or three, in any year is a tribute both to the productivity of his lab and the value that investors assign to his work. The venture capital firm Polaris Partners has invested in at least 20 of Langer’s companies, spending more than $220 million.
Noteworthy is that just a handful of Langer’s companies have gone bankrupt or shut down, a record that far exceeds expectations for venture-capital-backed firms. Among biopharma and medical device start-ups, “more companies fail than succeed,” often within a few years, according to NVCA.
It’s also a major accomplishment that the science originating at MIT continues to be employed, even if the company based on it has ceased to operate. For example, Juniper Pharmaceuticals is testing products that use technology acquired from the now-defunct Combinent BioMedical Systems. And companies that bought the early start-ups still find value in the acquired technology.
Of the original Langer firms still operating, most have products in clinical testing. Some of the more recently founded ones are already developing lead product candidates. Many of the companies have partnered with major firms. And a few—including Living Proof, Momenta Pharmaceuticals, and T2 Biosystems—have brought products to the market and are generating revenues.
As a result, it appears that Langer has notched another accomplishment, one that has nothing to do with making money. He started his first company, he wrote in a 2013 Nature Biotechnology article (DOI:10.1038/nbt.2609), “because I realized it was an effective path for transforming science into life-saving and life-improving inventions.”
Path of ingenuity
Langer’s entrepreneurial journey has led to more than 30 start-ups over 30 years.
Year founded
Company name
Technology focus
$10 million to
Estimated venture and private equity funding
Major milestones
Current status (2015 figures)
1987
EnzytechMicrosphere drug
delivery
$10 million to
$20 million
Acquired by
Alkermes in 1993
stock deal.
Technology in use.
1987
Opta Food Ingredients
Microspheres for food
applications
$10 million to $20 million
IPO in 1992. Acquired in
2002 for $28 million; now
part of SunOpta.
Technology in use
1988
NeomorphicsBiocompatible materials
$6 million
Acquired by Advanced Tissue
Sciences for $21 million in 1992.
Bankrupt in 2002.
Technology acquired by Smith &
Nephew and in use at regenerative
medicine firm Organogenesis.
1992
Focal
Biodegradable materials for
surgery
$59 million
$25 million IPO in 1997.
Acquired in 2001 by Genzyme
for total of $25 million.
Technology in use
1993
Acusphere
Microsphere imaging agents
$95 million
$53 million IPO in 2003.
Later delisted. Failed to get
product approved.
No longer operating
1993
EnzyMed
Combinatorial biocatalysis
for drug R&D
na
Acquired by Albany
Molecular Research Inc. in
1999 for $21 million.
Technology may be in use.
1997
Advanced Inhalation Research
Pulmonary drug delivery
$2 million
Acquired by Alkermes for $114 million
in 1999. Technology part of 2011
spin-off Civitas Therapeutics.
Civitas acquired by inhaled drug
developer Acorda Therapeutics in
2014.
1998
Reprogenesis
Tissue growth scaffolds
$17 million
Merged in 2000 with
Creative BioMolecules and
Ontogeny to form Curis.
Related programs largely
suspended in 2002.
1998
Sontra Medical
Transdermal drug delivery
$18 million
Merged with Echo Therapeutics
in 2007. Technology licensed to
Ferndale Pharma Group.
Glucose monitoring system in
development. Echo’s stock
delisted in July 2016.
1999
TransForm Pharmaceuticals
Polymorph
crystallization
$45 million
Acquired by Johnson &
Johnson in 2005 for
$230 million.
Technology in use.
1999
Microchips Biotech
Silicon-based drug delivery
$58 million
Private. Four funding
rounds. Equity investment
by Teva Pharmaceutical
Industries in 2015.
In clinical development
partnerships.
2000
Combinent BioMedical Systems
Transvaginal drug delivery
$5 million
Four funding rounds. No longer
operating.
Technology acquired by Juniper
Pharmaceuticals and now in
clinical testing.
2001
Momenta Pharmaceuticals
Complex-sugar-based drugs
$40 million
$35 million IPO in 2004. Two
products approved. Three in
clinical testing.
$90 million in revenues,
net loss.
2003
Pulmatrix
Inhaled therapeutics
$48 million
Three funding rounds.
Merged with Ruthigen in
2015 and went public.
Three products in
clinical trials. $1.1 million
in revenues, net loss.
2004
Pervasis Therapeutics
Therapies for vascular healing
$40 million
Completed Series C funding.
Acquired by Shire for up to
$200 million in 2012.
Development of Vascugel
halted in 2014 a er Phase II.
2005
Arsenal Medical
Nanofiber drug delivery
$47 million
Private. Four funding rounds.
Spun out 480 Biomedical in
2011.
Developing polymer foams
and fiber for tissue therapy
and repair.
2005
InVivo Therapeutics
Scaffolds for spinal cord
therapy
$11 million
One funding round.
Became public in 2010.
Product in clinical testing.
No revenues, net loss.
2006
Semprus BioSciences
Medical device coatings
$26 million
Completed Series B funding.
Acquired by Teleflex in 2012
for $30 million up front.
Issues encountered developing
technology, but Teleflex
expects to file for approval in
catheter application.
2006
T2 Biosystems
Nanoparticle diagnostics,
instruments
$93 million
$60 million IPO in 2014.
Two products launched.
$2.8 million in revenues,
net loss.
2006
Bind Therapeutics
Nanoparticle-based
therapeutics
$73 million
$71 million IPO in 2013.
Bankrupt, assets to be
sold for $40 million. Two
candidates in clinical
testing.
2007
Selecta Biosciences
Targeted nanoparticles
$152 million
Completed Series E
funding. $70 million IPO
in June 2016.
One clinical and two
preclinical candidates.
2008
Taris Biomedical
Urological drug delivery
$52 million
Private. Sold lead clinical-stage
asset to Allergan in 2014 for up
to $588 million.
Relaunched late 2015 with
$32 million investment. Bladder
cancer agent in clinical testing.
2008
Seventh Sense Biosystems
Microneedle blood collection
$33 million
Private. Completed Series B
funding.
Soon to file for marketing
authorization in the U.S. and
Europe.
2009
Kala Pharmaceuticals
Mucosal drug delivery
$114 million
Private. Completed
Series C funding.
One ophthalmic candidate
in clinical testing for three
conditions.
2011
XTuit Pharmaceuticals
Microenvironment-activated
drugs
$26 million
Private. Completed Series A
funding.
Developing lead candidates.
2011
480 Biomedical
Bioresorbable materials for
drug delivery
$45 million
Spin-out of Arsenal Medical.
Completed Series C funding.
Scaffold to treat vascular
disease/injury in clinical
testing.
2011
Moderna Therapeutics
Modified mRNA delivery
$650 million
Private. Four funding rounds.
Created four therapy-focused
companies.
Partnerships with big pharma
and nonprofit organizations
for clinical development.
2012
Blend Therapeutics
Biologic drug conjugates
$84 million
Private. Completed Series C
funding.
Now Tarveda Therapeutics.
Spun off platinum cancer drug
firm Placon Therapeutics in
January 2016.
2013
SQZ Biotech
Cell therapy
engineering
$6 million
Private. Completed
Series A funding.
Signed Roche
partnership worth
up to $500 million.
2015
Olivo Labs
Dermatological biomaterials
Seed funding
Materials based on
technology developed at
Living Proof.
Start-up phase with
materials in in vivo testing.
na = not readily available. Sources: Company information, SEC filings, Crunchbase, Informa Strategic Transactions, CB Insights
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