Centessa has been formed as a biotech conglomerate with $250m in funding following a ten-way merger, including multiple spinouts.
US-based pharmaceutical conglomerate Centessa Pharmaceuticals has been formed by investment firm Medicxi and equipped with $250m in series A financing following a large-scale merger that involved a host of spinouts.
Three spinouts of University of Cambridge – haemophilia treatment developer Apcintex, pulmonary arterial hypertension therapy developer Morphogen-IX and liver and lung diseases drug producer Z-Factor – have been absorbed into Centessa.
The ten-way merger also involved University of Toronto Mississauga’s biopharmaceutical spinout Janpix, kidney disease drug developer Palladio Biosciences and antibody discovery startup Capella Bioscience.
PearlRiver Bio, a cancer therapy developer co-founded by researchers at the universities of Cologne and Dortmund, and biopharmaceutical group Sosei Heptares’ narcolepsy treatment spinoff Orexia Therapeutics are also part of the group.
Solid tumour treatment developer LockBody and Pega-One, which targets cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma and other solid tumour indications, complete the line-up.
Each company will operate as a subsidiary of Centessa and will continue focusing on its key area, with a total of 15 assets between them – including four clinical-stage programmes and two candidates in late-stage clinical development.
The series A financing was co-led by Vida Ventures and Janus Henderson Investors, with participation from Boxer Capital, Cormorant Asset Management, T Rowe Price Associates, Venrock Healthcare Capital Partners and Wellington Management Company.
BVF Partners, EcoR1 Capital, Franklin Templeton, Logos Capital, Samsara BioCapital, LifeSci Venture Partners and an unnamed healthcare-focused fund filled out the round.
Centessa will be led by chief executive Saurabh Saha, former senior vice-president of R&D and global head of translational medicine at pharmaceutical firm Bristol Myers Squibb.
Moncef Slaoui has been named chief scientific officer, having previously been chief scientific adviser of Operation Warp Speed, the US government’s initiative to facilitate and accelerate the development of covid-19 treatments, vaccines and diagnostics.