Nextech Invest leads Blueprint Medicines US$ 25 Million Series B Financing
Nextech Invest AG /
Nextech Invest leads Blueprint Medicines US$ 25 Million Series B Financing
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Zurich (Switzerland), January 09, 2014 - Nextech Invest Ltd., the Swiss
specialist cancer venture capital investor, announced today the successful
completion of a US$ 25 million Series B financing of Blueprint Medicines,
Boston, USA. Nextech led the round, which also included founding investors Third
Rock Ventures, Fidelity Biosciences as well as public investors Biotech Value
Fund, L.P., Casdin Capital, LLC and other undisclosed investors.
"The strong team of leaders and scientific founders behind Blueprint Medicines
have successfully built a product engine and resulting product-candidate
pipeline that brings to life the vision of treating patients based on specific
genomic drivers of cancer. We believe this approach is core to the future of
oncology therapy with the promise of significantly improving survival while
minimizing toxicities for patients," said Thilo Schroeder, Ph.D., of Nextech
Invest Ltd. "Blueprint Medicines stands out for its high quality science and
early track record for successful execution." Blueprint's lead programs include
the first known selective inhibitors of the KIT D816V mutation, which is the
genomic driver of systemic mastocytosis, as well as a key genomically defined
subset of patients with gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST). The Company's
pipeline also includes the first known isoform-selective FGFR4 inhibitors for
patients with hepatocellular carcinoma with FGF19 amplification, the first clear
genomic driver in liver cancer and other tumors. Blueprint expects to initiate
clinical trials for these programs in 2015.
About Nextech Invest Ltd.
The global specialist life sciences venture capital firm Nextech Invest Ltd.,
established 1998 in Zurich, Switzerland, focuses on investing in oncology
related companies. Supported by an outstanding Scientific Advisory Board of
seven world-leading oncologists chaired by Professor David Livingston, Deputy
Director Dana-Farber Cancer Institute/Harvard Cancer Center, Nextech is
investing in emerging companies with pioneering innovations in cancer research
that have compounds in advanced clinical trials. Nextech has a total of US$ 100
million in two oncology funds under management. Nextech has made eleven
investments to date, of which three have already been exited and two more have
gone public just recently. Nextech is a longstanding member of leading networks
in private equity, such as EVCA, SECA and EVPA. Nextech works closely with the
Union for International Cancer Control (UICC).
For more information, please contact:
Alfred Scheidegger
PhD, Founding Partner & CEO
Nextech Invest Ltd.
Tel.: +41 44 366 66 12
scheidegger@nextechinvest.com
www.nextechinvest.com
Press release (PDF):
http://hugin.info/158778/R/1753650/591575.pdf
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Source: Nextech Invest AG via GlobeNewswire
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