SR One, the independent corporate venturing division of healthcare company GlaxoSmithKline, has led the second round of funding for US-based drugs discovery company Constellation Pharmaceuticals by linking up with the venture capital managers of a Colorado-based Indian tribe.
SR One led the $22m series B round for Constellation, with participation from existing VC investors Third Rock Ventures, Column Group, Venrock and Altitude Life Science Ventures.
Altitude manages private equity partnerships on behalf of the GF Private Equity Group owned by the Southern Ute Indian tribe and is co-managed by corporate venturing veteran Steve Johnson, who used to be president of Tredegar Investments, the venture arm of Tredegar Corporation.
For Constellation, the B round follows the $32m raised in April 2008 and adds corporate backing to its drugs platform.
Mark Goldsmith, executive president of Constellation, said: "Our differentiated ability to develop a pipeline of drugs against a broad range of epigenetic target classes is a core feature of our business strategy, and this investment allows us to accelerate our efforts to bring these discoveries to the patient."
Epigenetics involves the study of chemical modifications of both DNA (or the genome, which contains all human genes) and of its packaging proteins, which are collectively called the epigenome.