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Business

Three Biotech Start-ups Debut

by Lisa M. Jarvis
December 2, 2013 | A version of this story appeared in Volume 91, Issue 48

A trio of biotech start-ups have launched with financial support from respected backers. Gene-editing firm Editas Medicine has landed $43 million in its first financing round, led by Flagship Ventures, Polaris Partners, and Third Rock Ventures. The Cambridge, Mass.-based company is founded by five scientists who were integral in the development of CRISPR gene-editing technology, which enables disease-causing genes to be precisely turned on or off. Meanwhile, GlaxoSmithKline and Avalon Ventures unveiled the first company formed as part of a joint effort to launch up to 10 early-stage companies in San Diego. Sitari Pharmaceuticals will hit the ground with $10 million in financing to support the development of small molecules that block transglutaminase 2, an enzyme implicated in celiac disease. The biotech’s technology was developed in the labs of Stanford University chemist Chaitan Khosla. A third biotech firm, Armo BioSciences, emerged from “stealth mode” to reveal robust financial support and a product in the clinic. Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, OrbiMed, and DAG Ventures all contributed to the Redwood City, Calif.-based company’s $20 million financing round. Armo has started a Phase I study of AM0010, a PEGylated form of recombinant human interleukin-10 licensed from Merck & Co.

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