Ivan Dimov (left) and Rick Klausner

A pair of Bay Area biotech up­starts with deep pock­ets and a shared in­ter­est in cu­ra­tive can­cer drugs join R&D forces

Two Bay Area up­starts with close con­nec­tions are join­ing forces to­day in the hunt for cell ther­a­py 2.0. And the deal is bond­ing some brash new play­ers with one of the best con­nect­ed biotech ex­ecs in San Fran­cis­co.

There’s no mon­ey men­tioned in the deal an­nounce­ment, but both Or­ca Bio and Lyell Im­munophar­ma have had no trou­ble rais­ing hun­dreds of mil­lions of dol­lars in the past year or so.

This is a match made in biotech heav­en with plans to take on some dev­il­ish killers. Or­ca brings its T cell pu­rifi­ca­tion plat­form to the ta­ble, while Lyell has deep ranks of ex­perts in T cell bi­ol­o­gy. To­geth­er, they think they can make cu­ra­tive strides in sol­id tu­mors, rang­ing be­yond the first vic­to­ries over blood can­cer.

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