On January 23, 2019 BridgeBio Pharma, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on genetic diseases, reported a new financing round of $299.2 million (Press release, BridgeBio, JAN 23, 2019, View Source [SID1234576267]). The round was co-led by existing investors KKR and Viking Global Investors. Other existing investors participating included Perceptive Advisors, AIG, Aisling Capital, Cormorant Capital, and Hercules Capital; and they were joined by new investors Sequoia Capital, and a blue-chip long-term investor. The financing will be used to support BridgeBio Pharma’s existing drug research and development programs and expand its efforts to rapidly develop medicines for patients with unmet needs.
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"We are privileged to be working with investors who believe in our goal of creating medicines for patients with genetic disease. We are aware that many of these patients lack effective treatment options, and we take our mission to help them seriously," said Neil Kumar, Ph.D, co-founder and chief executive officer of BridgeBio Pharma. "The path from promising early-stage science to a drug that makes a difference for patients requires a long-term vision and steady commitment. We are fortunate to have our investors’ support as we develop these treatments."
Genetic diseases are conditions that derive directly from mutations in their patients’ DNA. These mutations can be either inherited or spontaneous, and the diseases stemming from them include both Mendelian diseases, which tend to affect pediatric patients, and cancers. While there are more than 7,000 genetic diseases affecting 25 to 30 million Americans in aggregate, fewer than 500 drugs are approved for these conditions, leaving a significant number of patients without any therapeutic options.
BridgeBio Pharma was formed in 2015 by a team of drug research and development veterans from both the biotech industry and academia. The company seeks to translate novel scientific discoveries from universities, academic medical centers, and pharmaceutical research groups into genetically-targeted therapeutics that address the fundamental causes of disease. Its portfolio of more than 15 assets includes several in the pre-clinical stages of development, as well as four programs in or approaching pivotal trials.
Each of these drug assets is housed in its own subsidiary company, with access to centralized resources and capabilities courtesy of a novel corporate structure developed in conjunction with Dr. Andrew Lo of MIT’s Sloan School of Management. BridgeBio employs a lean, capital-efficient model that harnesses a central research and development platform to simultaneously operate multiple programs that fit the company’s stringent science criteria. Using this model, personnel and funding can be efficiently redistributed amongst the assets on an as-needed basis. The portfolio assets span therapeutic areas including genetic dermatology, oncology, cardiology, neurology, endocrinology, renal disease, and ophthalmology. Some of the specific indications targeted include transthyretin amyloidosis (ATTR-CM and ATTR-PN), pantothenate kinase-associated neurodegeneration (PKAN), Gorlin syndrome and frequent basal cell carcinomas, dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa (DEB), Darier and Hailey-Hailey diseases, Netherton syndrome, venous malformations, Canavan disease, Leber’s hereditary optic neuropathy, molybdenum cofactor deficiency Type A, achondroplasia, and FGFR, SHP-2, and K-RAS-driven cancers.