US-based pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and venture capital firm Avalon Ventures have launched three new pharmaceutical companies that will each receive up to $10m in series A funding.
Adrenergics will focus on a treatment for dilated cardiomyopathy, a disease that affects the heart muscle.
CadheRx is working on antibodies to treat solid tumours which have proven to be resistant to existing forms of treatments. CadheRx’s technology is based on research by Sabine Brouxhon, a clinical associate professor at Stony Brook University.
Calporta hopes to treat Niemann-Pick C Disease and a group of some 50 other, related rare metabolic disorders. The treatment is based on research by Haoxing Xu at University of Michigan.
The three startups will be headquartered at COI Pharmaceuticals, a centre set up by Avalon providing operational support and a research and development lab. Avalon will also offer executive leadership.
GSK and Avalon entered a $495m partnership in April 2013 to fund 10 new startups through the preclinical stage. The partnership has led to six new companies to date.
GSK has an option to acquire any of the startups once it enters the clinical stage.
Lon Cardon, senior vice-president of alternative discovery and development at GSK, said: “This collaboration underscores how large pharmaceutical companies and venture capitalists are working closely to leverage resources and expertise into a powerful vehicle that is bridging the gap between academia and entrepreneurship.
“Through our collaboration with Avalon Ventures, we are streamlining innovation at the earliest stages, creating the potential to increase the efficiency of drug discovery, which will ultimately benefit patients.”