Corporate Fund Portfolio
Brief company descriptions are included. To learn more about our investees’ businesses, please use the links provided to visit their corporate websites.
Allena Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ALNA)
Newton, MA, USA
Allena Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a specialty biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing innovative non-systemic oral protein therapeutics to treat metabolic and orphan diseases. Allena’s lead program ALLN-177 is an orally administered, highly active recombinant oxalatedegrading enzyme for the chronic management of hyperoxaluria and kidney stones (nephrolithiasis). ALLN-177 specifically targets oxalate in the gastrointestinal tract, reducing both dietary and endogenously produced oxalate. ALLN-177 has the potential to decrease oxalate available for deposition as calcium oxalate crystals or stones in the kidneys, as well as other related complications. ALLN-177 is the first pharmacologic treatment to produce a statistically significant reduction in urinary oxalate excretion in a controlled trial – a positive finding for patients with hyperoxaluria.
For more information, visit http://www.allenapharma.com/.
Aquinox (NASDAQ:AQXP)
Vancouver, Canada
Aquinox is a privately-held pharmaceutical company committed to the discovery, development, and commercialization of novel and targeted small molecule therapeutics for the treatment of cancer and inflammatory disease. Its products include AQX-1125, an active and selective small molecule allosteric activator of SHIP1 for the treatment of blood and immune disorders. The company was founded in 2004 and is based in Vancouver, Canada.
Visit www.aqxpharma.com
Avelas Biosciences
La Jolla, CA
Avelas Biosciences is a San Diego-based biotechnology company focused on developing technologies that advance a new standard-of-care for cancer surgery and therapeutic intervention. The company’s lead product candidate, AVB-620, is in a Phase 1b trial in breast cancer to assess safety, pharmacokinetics, and fluorescence properties using tissue image analysis. Avelas was founded by Avalon Ventures on technology from Nobel laureate Roger Y. Tsien, Ph.D. For additional information, please visit www.avelasbio.com
enGene, Inc.
Montreal, Canada
enGene Inc. is a private Canadian biotechnology company developing an innovative mucosal immunotherapy platform for treating several prevalent, chronic diseases including inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and diabetes. enGene has developed a proprietary, highly flexible, non-integrating biopolymer-based nucleotide (DNA and siRNA) delivery technology that facilitates localized delivery of immune-modulating proteins to the intestinal mucosa for treating various immune disorders. enGene’s unique nucleotide delivery formulation can be delivered to the gut via oral or enema route.
For more information, please visit www.engeneinc.com.
Jounce Therapeutics (NASDAQ:JNCE)
Cambridge, MA, USA
Jounce Therapeutics is dedicated to transforming the treatment of cancer through discovering and developing novel cancer immunotherapies with the potential to drive significantly more durable responses to treatment, extending and improving patients’ quality of life. Jounce utilizes translational science insights to match the right targets to well defined patient populations in order to achieve a higher probability of success and rapid proof-of-concept. The company is pursuing programs against multiple targets in the T cell checkpoint area, as well as programs beyond T cell checkpoints, where current immunotherapies are less likely to be effective. Founded by world leaders in tumor immunology, cancer biology and clinical and translational medicine, Jounce Therapeutics was launched in 2013 with initial funding from leading life sciences investor, Third Rock Ventures.
For more information, please visit www.jouncetx.com.
Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX)
Menlo Park, California, USA & Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
Protagonist Therapeutics is a U.S.-incorporated biotechnology company pursuing the discovery and development of disulfide-rich peptides (DRPs) as well differentiated alternatives to biologics, and also as new chemical entities (NCEs) against those targets and life threatening diseases for which ideal small molecule and/or biologic options are unavailable. DRPs are a proven chemical class of drugs with numerous examples of orally stable and injectable NCEs on the market and in various stages of clinical development. The company has a validated technology platform well suited to explore the full potential of the DRP scaffold class. It comprises of a purposefully built computational design environment, directed evolution approaches to prepare millions of molecules via phage libraries, and classical small molecule medicinal chemistry-type analoging and SAR development.
Protagonist is a spin-out of University of Queensland’s Institute of Molecular Biosciences (IMB) and has discovery operations in Menlo Park, California, USA and Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
For further information, please visit http://www.protagonist-inc.com
Proteon Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PRTO)
Waltham, MA, USA
Proteon Therapeutics Inc. is a privately held biopharmaceutical company developing novel, first-in-class pharmaceuticals to address the critical medical needs of patients with kidney and vascular diseases. Proteon Therapeutics’ first drug candidate, PRT-201, is a locally-acting recombinant human elastase that fragments elastin fibers in blood vessel walls. PRT-201 has received fast track and orphan drug designations from the FDA and orphan medicinal product designation from the European Commission for hemodialysis vascular access indications. Proteon is investigating whether elastase could be used as a treatment to dilate arteries and veins and to reduce neointimal hyperplasia in settings where such effects would result in a medical benefit.
For additional information, please visit www.proteontherapeutics.com.
TransMedics, Inc. (NASDAQ:TMDX)
Andover, MA, USA
TransMedics, Inc. is the world’s leader in portable ex-vivo warm perfusion and assessment of donor organs for transplantation. Headquartered in Andover, Massachusetts, the company was founded to address the unmet need for more and better organs for transplantation, and has developed technologies to improve organ quality, validate organ viability, and increase the utilization of transplant organs for the treatment of end-stage heart, lung, liver and kidney failure.
For more information please visit: www.TransMedics.com
Neon Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NTGN)
Cambridge, MA, USA
Neon Therapeutics is an immuno-oncology company focused on developing novel therapeutics leveraging neoantigen biology to treat cancer. A neoantigen-based product engine allows Neon to develop multiple treatment modalities, including next-generation vaccines and T cell therapies targeting both personalized and shared neoantigens. Neon’s lead program is a personalized neoantigen vaccine that builds upon years of research and development at the Broad Institute and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and is already in clinical trials.
For more information, please visit www.neontherapeutics.com.