Westlake today announced the launch of its third fund of $450 million to incubate and grow early stage next-generation biotechnology companies in the Los Angeles region and beyond. The new fund will be managed by founding managing director Beth Seidenberg, M.D., managing director Mira Chaurushiya, Ph.D., and David Allison, Ph.D., who was recently appointed managing director.
Westlake-Backed Kate Therapeutics Debuts With $51 Million Series A to Develop Next-Generation Genetic Medicines to Treat Muscle and Heart Diseases
Westlake-backed Kate Therapeutics Inc., a next-generation gene therapy company, today emerged from stealth mode with a $51 million Series A financing co-led by founding investor Westlake Village BioPartners and Versant Ventures, with participation from Osage University Partners and UF Innovate | Ventures. In addition, the company has granted Astellas Pharma Inc. an exclusive, worldwide license to develop, manufacture and commercialize KT430 to treat X-linked myotubular myopathy (XLMTM), the details of which are described in a separate press release issued today.
Mira Chaurushiya, Ph.D. Named to Endpoints News’ LGBTQ+ Biopharma Leaders List
Mira Chaurushiya, Managing Director at Westlake Village BioPartners, has been named one of Endpoints News’ LGBTQ+ biopharma leaders for 2023.
Westlake Village BioPartners named Business of the Year by Greater Conjeo Valley Chamber of Commerce
On May 19, Westlake Village BioPartners was named Business of the Year by the Greater Conjeo Valley Chamber of Commerce. We’re honored to be a part of the vibrancy and sustainability of the economic, cultural and philanthropic landscape of the Conejo Valley.
Kite to Acquire Westlake-backed Tmunity Therapeutics to Pursue Next Generation CAR T-Cell Therapy Advancements in Cancer
Kite, a Gilead Company (Nasdaq: GILD), and Westlake-backed Tmunity Therapeutics (Tmunity), today announced that the companies have signed an agreement in which Kite will acquire Tmunity, a clinical-stage, private biotech company focused on next-generation CAR T-therapies and technologies. The acquisition of Tmunity complements Kite’s existing in-house cell therapy research capabilities by adding additional pipeline assets, platform capabilities, and a strategic research and licensing agreement with the University of Pennsylvania (Penn)
Westlake-Backed Dantari Launches With $47 million Series A
Dantari, Inc., a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing best-in-class targeted therapeutics for the treatment of cancers and other diseases, announced its emergence from stealth mode with $47 million Series A financing. The Series A financing was led by Westlake Village BioPartners and included participation from Corner Ventures, Alexandria Venture Investments, and Caltech. The Company also announced the appointment of Richard A. Markus, M.D., Ph.D., as president and CEO, and its board of directors, chaired by Sean Harper, M.D., a co-founding managing director at Westlake.
Westlake-Backed Arsenal Biosciences Announces $70 Million, Multi-Year Collaboration with Genentech
Arsenal Biosciences, Inc., a privately held programmable cell therapy company engineering advanced CAR T therapies for solid tumors, announced a multi-year collaboration with Genentech. The companies will deploy ArsenalBio’s proprietary technology for high-throughput screening and engineering of T cells to identify critical success circuits in T cell-based therapies.
Westlake-backed Neuron23 announces collaboration with QIAGEN to develop sequencing companion diagnostic for novel Parkinson’s disease drug
Neuron23 Inc., an early stage biotechnology company focused on developing precision medicines for genetically defined neurological and immunological diseases, and QIAGEN have announced a collaboration to develop a companion diagnostic for Neuron23’s LRRK2 inhibitor for Parkinson’s disease.
Westlake-Backed ACELYRIN, INC. Closes $300 Million Series C Financing
ACELYRIN, INC., a Westlake-funded late-stage clinical biopharma company, will use the financing to accelerate Phase 3 development of izokibep, a unique IL-17A inhibitor to treat inflammatory diseases including psoriatic arthritis and axial spondyloarthritis.
Westlake-Backed Arsenal Biosciences Closes $220 Million Series B Financing
Arsenal Biosciences, Inc., a privately held programmable cell therapy company engineering advanced CAR T therapies for solid tumors, announced the close of a $220 million Series B financing round. Proceeds from the financing will help the company expand its programmable cell therapy research activities and grow its pipeline of therapeutic candidates for solid tumor malignancies across a range of cancer indications.
Westlake-Backed 3T Biosciences Debuts with $40 Million Series A Financing
3T Biosciences, an immunotherapy company changing the future of treatment for solid tumors and other immune-mediated diseases, announced its launch from stealth backed by $40 million Series A financing led by Westlake Village BioPartners with participation from Lightspeed Venture Partners. As part of its launch, 3T announced it has exclusively in-licensed from Stanford University a precise antibody-based peptide-HLA therapeutic discovery platform and development-stage MAGE-A3 T-cell receptor (TCR)-T assets to rapidly expand 3T’s therapeutic portfolio.
Three Westlake Scientists Named to Endpoints’ Top 20 Scientists Under 40
Three scientists from Westlake-founded companies have made this year’s Endpoints Top 20 Scientists Under 40 list. Meet Sharif Tabebordbar, Nick Goeden, and Nick Flytzanis. They’re all Ph.D. scientists – aged 36, 35, and 35, respectively.
Pharmaceutical Executive Profiles Westlake’s Beth Seidenberg as HBA’s Woman of the Year
Westlake’s co-founding managing director, Beth Seidenberg, MD, was profiled in the cover story of this month’s edition of Pharmaceutical Executive. Seidenberg was recently named the Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association’s Woman of the Year for her significant contributions to healthcare and the advancement of women in the industry.
Neuron23 Closes $100 Million Series C Financing Round, Nominates Clinical Candidate for Parkinson’s Disease
Neuron23™ Inc., an early stage biotechnology company focused on developing precision medicines for genetically defined neurological and immunological diseases, today announced it has closed a $100 million Series C financing round led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2, bringing the company’s total financing raised to date to $213.5 million. Neuron23’s Series A and B investors – Westlake Village BioPartners, Kleiner Perkins, Redmile Group, Cowen Healthcare Investments, Acorn Bioventures, HBM Partners, Perceptive Advisors, and Surveyor Capital (a Citadel company) – also participated in the Series C financing round.
Westlake-Backed Kyverna Therapeutics Closes $85 Million Series B Financing led by Northpond Ventures
Kyverna Therapeutics, a cell therapy company engineering a new class of therapies for serious autoimmune diseases, today announced it has closed an oversubscribed $85 million Series B financing round led by Northpond Ventures. Additional investors included the company’s founding investors Westlake Village BioPartners, Vida Ventures, and Gilead Sciences, with new investors RTW Investments, LP, CAM Capital, Insight Partners, HealthCor, LYFE Capital, Intellia Therapeutics, Argentum Peak, Hudson Bay Capital, and jVen Capital.
Westlake’s Beth Seidenberg Named HBA’s Woman of the Year
The Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association (HBA) announced Westlake’s Beth Seidenberg as the 2022 Woman of the Year. She was recognized for her significant contributions to healthcare and the advancement of women in the industry.
Westlake Village BioPartners Appoints Mira Chaurushiya, Ph.D., as Senior Partner
Westlake today announced the appointment of Mira Chaurushiya, Ph.D., to the position of senior partner. Dr. Chaurushiya will be a full investing partner at Westlake. She joins the firm from 5AM Ventures, where she spent more than six years growing and building next-generation life sciences companies.
Westlake-backed Acelyrin, INC. Closes $250 Million Series B Financing and Announces Licensing of Izokibep, a Late-Stage IL-17A Inhibitor to Treat Inflammatory Diseases
Westlake-backed ACELYRIN, INC., a biopharma company focused on providing patients life-changing new treatment options by identifying, acquiring, and accelerating development and commercialization of promising drug candidates, today announced the closing of its hugely successful Series B round of financing.
Expansion Therapeutics Raises $80 Million Series B Financing to Treat Neurodegenerative Diseases
Expansion Therapeutics, Inc., a biotechnology company focused on developing transformative oral medicines for severe RNA-mediated diseases, today announced the close of an $80 million Series B financing. Cormorant Asset Management led the financing with participation from new investors Westlake Village BioPartners, Surveyor Capital (a Citadel company) and Logos Capital as well as Series A investors RA Capital Management, 5AM, Kleiner Perkins, Sanofi Ventures and Novartis Venture Fund. Proceeds from the financing will be used to advance the company’s small molecule RNA platform (SMIRNA™) to identify clinical candidates in myotonic dystrophy type 1 (DM1), amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), frontotemporal dementia (FTD) and various tauopathies.
Sean Harper joins podcast host Jim Baer on The Puck: Venture Capital & Beyond
On this episode of the weekly podcast The Puck: Venture Capital & Beyond, podcast host Jim Baer talks with Managing Partner at Westlake Village BioPartners Sean Harper, MD, about his experience working on the front lines of the medical industry and the ongoing evolution of the LA Biotech Hub. They discuss Harper’s background as a … Read More
Biotech Tilts at the Tipping Point of Gender Equality
Westlake’s co-founding managing director Beth Seidenberg was recently featured in BioSpace, discussing the advantages of a diverse team, a diverse boardroom and how it can fundamentally alter the trajectory of a company for the better. She also discusses the importance of committing to sustained mentorship at senior levels and the progress that can be made … Read More
Westlake-Backed Capsida Biotherapeutics Debuts with $140 Million of Capital
Versant Ventures and Westlake Village BioPartners today announced the emergence from stealth mode of Capsida Biotherapeutics Inc., a biotechnology company using an adeno-associated virus (AAV) engineering and cargo development platform to develop tissue-targeted gene therapies for multiple types of diseases. In addition to a $50 million Series A commitment from the two firms, Capsida also announced a multi-year strategic collaboration and option agreement with AbbVie that provides $90 million in up front and equity investment capital in addition to potential future option, development and commercial milestone payments. The collaboration is aimed at developing best-in-class, targeted gene therapies for three programs in serious neurodegenerative diseases.
Westlake Village BioPartners Lights the Match Under Los Angeles’ Biotech Industry
Westlake continues to be a catalyst for the Los Angeles Biotech Hub, bringing expertise and capital to the region as the biotech industry goes from strength to strength. In this profile, we look at the path co-founding managing directors Beth Seidenberg and Sean Harper took to get to this point, and where they are going … Read More
Tipping Point: How L.A.’s Emerging Life Sciences Industry Could Help Lead the City’s Post-Pandemic Recovery
L.A. Biz recently sat down with Westlake’s managing director, Sean Harper, to do a deep dive into how the city’s life sciences industry is expanding and the role it could play driving the post-pandemic recovery.
Barron’s Names Seidenberg Top 100 Most Influential Women in U.S. Finance
Westlake’s co-founding managing director Beth Seidenberg was named by Barron’s as one of the “100 Most Influential Women in U.S. Finance” as part of its second annual list that honors women who are helping lead and shape the modern financial-services industry.
Westlake Village BioPartners Names Peter Calveley as Chief Operating Officer
Westlake today announced the appointment of Peter Calveley to the position of Chief Operating Officer. Mr. Calveley will be responsible for managing the operational side of the firm, as well as enhancing strategic decision-making for Westlake’s portfolio of life sciences companies.
Podcast: Harper on Westlake’s New Funds, Investment Strategy and the LA Biotech Hub
Westlake co-founding managing director, Sean Harper, recently spoke to Minnie Ingersoll, host of TenOneTen’s “LA Venture” podcast, about Westlake’s recently launched $500 million funds, the firm’s investment focus and the growth of the Los Angeles area biotech hub.
Westlake-Backed Tmunity Appoints Jeffrey Leiden, M.D., Ph.D. as Board Chairman
We are pleased to welcome Jeffrey Leiden, M.D., Ph.D., as non-executive chairman of Tmunity’s Board of Directors. As a physician and scientist, Dr. Leiden has dedicated his career to improving the lives of people with serious diseases. We look forward to working with him as Tmunity advances its programs targeting solid tumors.
Westlake-Backed Arsenal Biosciences Announces $70 Million Discovery Collaboration with Bristol Myers Squibb to Advance Next-Generation T Cell Therapies for Solid Tumors
Programmable cell therapy company Arsenal Biosciences, which Westlake Village BioPartners seeded and significantly contributed to its Series A financing, today announced a $70 million multi-program discovery collaboration with Bristol Myers Squibb to advance next-generation T cell therapies for solid tumors.
Neuron23™ Closes $113.5 Million Series A and B Financing led by Westlake Village BioPartners, Kleiner Perkins, and Redmile Group
Neuron23™ Inc., an early stage biotechnology company focused on developing precision medicines for genetically defined neurological and immunological diseases, today announced its launch backed by a combined $113.5 million Series A and B financing. The funding was comprised of $33.5 million Series A financing from Westlake Village BioPartners and Kleiner Perkins, and $80 million Series … Read More
Westlake Village BioPartners Launches Two New Funds Totaling $500 Million to Advance Transformative Treatments
Today we announced the launch of two new funds totaling $500 million to build and invest in promising life sciences companies with transformative human therapeutic technologies.
ACELYRIN Launches with Funding from Westlake Village BioPartners
ACELYRIN, INC., a biopharma company focused on providing patients life-changing new treatment options by identifying, acquiring, and accelerating development and commercialization of promising drug candidates, today announced its launch backed by Series A financing from Westlake Village BioPartners.
Westlake-Founded Kyverna Therapeutics Launches With $25 Million Series A
Westlake Village BioPartners is pleased to have founded and participated in the Series A financing of Kyverna Therapeutics, a cell therapy company engineering a new class of therapies for serious autoimmune diseases. Kyverna has raised $25 million in a Series A investment from Vida Ventures, Westlake Village BioPartners, and Gilead Sciences
Westlake Weighs in on Top Tech Trends for 2020
Fast Company recently published an article entitled, “The top tech trends of 2020, from AI to 5G.” Westlake Village BioPartners’ Sean Harper and Beth Seidenberg provided their perspective on the promising role gene therapy could play in the treatment of solid tumors. You can read more about what they and other industry leaders had to … Read More
Westlake-Funded Tmunity Therapeutics Raises $75 Million Series B to Advance Next-Generation T Cell Therapies
Westlake Village BioPartners today announced it participated in the $75 million Series B financing of Tmunity Therapeutics, a company focused on delivering the full potential of next-generation T cell immunotherapy.
Westlake-Funded Arsenal Biosciences Launches With $85 Million Series A
Westlake Village BioPartners is pleased to have seeded and been a major contributor to the Series A funding round for programmable cell therapy company Arsenal Biosciences. The company will integrate technologies such as CRISPR-based genome engineering, scaled and high throughput target identification, synthetic biology, and machine learning to advance a new paradigm to discover and develop immune cell therapies, initially for cancer.
Four Ingredients Needed to Build a Biotech Hub in LA
At the recent Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association meeting, several themes emerged as essential ingredients in building the Los Angeles biotech hub. Westlake Village BioPartners’ managing director Sean Harper participated in a panel discussion that examined the issues facing Los Angeles as it grows its life sciences industry. The event, titled “Los Angeles: The Next Major Biotechnology … Read More
Building the Biotech City
Los Angeles has a long history of reinventing itself. From a village of 5,000 people in the 1870s, focused on cattle farming and agriculture; to establishing ports, railways, banks and factories designed to challenge San Francisco; to producing one-quarter of the world’s total oil supply by 1923; to the boomtown days of Hollywood from 1913-1941; … Read More
Harper Provides Perspective on Life Sciences Investing Through Fresh Eyes
At the recent Yale University Innovation Summit, Westlake Village BioPartners managing director Sean Harper presented an overview of the current advances in life sciences, his views on what is happening in the biotech venture capital world right now, and also provided some advice to entrepreneurs on how to build a successful business. As part of … Read More
Seidenberg Talks Gene Editing
Recently, Beth Seidenberg made news at the Fortune Brainstorm Health conference, revealing that cell therapy startup Tmunity has brought a product into human clinical trials that has knocked out multiple cancer genes.
Westlake Village BioPartners’ Beth Seidenberg Named One of World’s Top Venture Capitalists
Today Forbes announced that Westlake Village BioPartners founding managing director Beth Seidenberg, MD, has been ranked 59 on the annual Midas List of the world’s top 100 technology venture capitalists.
A Different Approach to Building a Successful Startup
Building a company from scratch can be exciting and rewarding and if you do it right you can change the world. However, it can also be challenging and is fraught with risk. While some venture capital firms are primarily focused on financials, at Westlake Village BioPartners our philosophy is to build world-class companies by taking a different approach.
San Fernando Valley Business Journal Profiles Westlake Village BioPartners
Recently, the San Fernando Valley Business Journal reported on what Westlake Village BioPartners is doing in the greater Los Angeles area to establish a life sciences hub. It is exciting to know we are playing our part catalyzing the industry in this region!
Why Now is the Golden Age of Biotechnology
We are sprinting into what we believe is the Golden Age of Biotechnology—and the implications for humanity are profound. Just like in other industries in the past, such as aerospace and computing, we are now at an inflection point in biotechnology where we can address the most fundamental of human concerns: how to live longer, healthier lives, free of disease.
Westlake Village BioPartners Unveils $320 Million Inaugural Fund Focused on Life Science Investing
Westlake Village BioPartners, a new venture firm exclusively focused on investing in life sciences, announced the launch of the firm’s first fund with $320 million of committed capital.