From Good to Great: Unlocking a biopharma platform’s full potential
RiverVest Venture Partners
A leading venture capital firm building life science companies to address significant unmet medical needs
Good Therapeutics, founded in 2016 by molecular biologist John Mulligan, Ph.D., was acquired by Roche (SIX: RO, ROG;OTCQX: RHHBY) in 2022 for $250 million upfront plus potential milestone payments. Even better, Mulligan and company retained their platform and the ability to mine it for innovative drugs to fight cancer and other diseases.
The potential for conditionally active protein technology is vast and could be game-changing for patients. In RiverVest's latest case study, we describe how this portfolio company's acquisition played out and what the future may hold for its spinout, Bonum Therapeutics.
Read the Full Case Study Here:
INVESTMENT SNAPSHOT
THE UNMET NEED
Safer, more effective cancer treatments
As scientists learn more about the immune system and its complex mechanisms, they continue to discover pathways that could make effective immunotherapies. The problem is they are often too powerful, too widespread, and too toxic for general use. Once they enter the body, these regulators trigger overactive responses and severe side effects. How can scientists direct these pathways and selectively direct anti-tumor activity precisely where it is needed?
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GOOD’S SOLUTION
Potent biological activity only where needed
Good (Now Bonum) is creating a new class of regulated protein therapeutics designed to deliver potent biological activity only where needed. Its two-in-one, shape-shifting molecules combine a sensor domain and a therapeutic domain to create a drug that can activate the immune system to attack the tumor.
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POTENTIAL IMPACT
The asset that Roche acquired is a PD1-regulated IL-2 program that complements the pharmaceutical giant’s existing oncology pipeline and expertise. As a leader in immuno-oncology and a pioneer in the field of engineered PD-1-targeted IL-2 therapeutics, Roche is uniquely positioned to expedite the development of this important program.
After the acquisition, Good’s entire team moved to a spinout company, Bonum (Latin for “good”), where they continue full-steam ahead to utilize the platform to discover innovative drugs.
Mulligan believes that with Good’s platform, “the sky’s the limit” for making drugs that act only when and where they are needed, which could be a huge win for patients.
RIVERVEST'S ROLE
When Good's founder John Mulligan was scouting for funding, he sought investors who could bring more than just dollars to the table; he wanted board members who could balance risk and uncertainty while supporting cutting-edge therapies for life-threatening diseases.
RiverVest Managing Director and Good board member John McKearn, Ph.D., recognized the enormous potential for context-dependent therapeutics in fighting cancer and other diseases and quickly jumped to action to enable Mulligan’s vision.
RiverVest co-led Good’s Series A financing in 2018 and later assisted in executing an acquisition that was uniquely advantageous in scope
Read about Good's innovative acquisition structure here ?
Watch Good's Chief Scientific Officer Diane Hollenbaugh discuss the early stages of development:
Good’s Next Chapter: Onward as Bonum!
Two months after Good’s acquisition, Bonum Therapeutics announced a $93M Series A Financing ?to advance Good’s conditionally active therapies program. The original syndicate, plus one new investor, participated in Bonum’s financing.
Follow Bonum’s progress at www.BonumTx.com and connect with them on LinkedIn.
ABOUT RIVERVEST
RiverVest Venture Partners??is a leading venture capital firm building life science companies to address significant unmet needs of patients and deliver consistently strong results to investors.
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Chief Executive Officer at Eye Thrive
1 年Excellent work, as always, John McKearn!
Prof. in Optical Molecular Imaging, Dept. Radiology and Nuclear Medicine at Erasmus Medical Center (EMC)
1 年Fantastic technology John! Congratulations.