Sean Parker helps create a CRISPRed cell therapy 2.0 play and he’s got a high-profile set of leaders on the team – Endpoints News

You can rack up one more high-profile debut effort in the wave of activity forming around cell therapy 2.0. Its another appealing Bay Area group thats attracted some of the top hands in the business to a multi-year effort to create a breakthrough. And they have $85 million in hand to make that first big step to the clinic.

Today its Ken Drazan and the team at South San Francisco-based ArsenalBio that are coming from behind the curtain for a public bow, backed by billionaire Sean Parker and a collection of investors that includes Beth Seidenbergs new venture investment operation based in LA.Drazan a J&J Innovation vet with a long record of entrepreneurial endeavors exited the stage in 2018 when his last mission ended as he stepped aside as president of Grail. It wasnt long, though, before he was helping out with a business plan for ArsenalBio that revolved around the work of a large group of interconnected scientists supported by the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunology.The biotech started by putting together an arsenal of technologies aimed at making cell therapies for cancer much, much better than the rather crude first-generation drugs that hit the market from Novartis and Kite.Their drugs have become the baseline against which all others are being measured.The technology set were developing is independent of the chassis, Drazan tells me. It doesnt have to be autologous (extracted from the patient) or allogeneic (off the shelf). It doesnt have to be a T cell, it could be a B cell. But they are starting out on the autologous side, where they have the most knowledge and insight into manufacturing techniques.It also doesnt have to be close to the clinic.Drazan expects the biotech will be working its way through preclinical operations for a few years, with enough money from the $85 million launch round to get into humans.By todays superheated fundraising standards, thats not a huge amount of cash. Lyell, another cell therapy 2.0 startup we featured last week, raised $600 million in a year, including a big chunk of cash from GlaxoSmithKline. Drazan is interested in dealmaking as well, but he also knows he has the cash necessary to support the company for a good run a key part of what it takes to bring together a stellar team of top players.

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Original post:
Sean Parker helps create a CRISPRed cell therapy 2.0 play and he's got a high-profile set of leaders on the team - Endpoints News