Celgene, Versant back a biotech merger, building an antibody pipeline and lining up for the clinic
Versant Ventures and Celgene have extended their deal to foster a Toronto-based biotech called Northern Biologics, bringing in a Phase I-ready cancer drug through a merger with a small biotech in Barcelona and pumping in fresh funds to drive its pivot into the clinic.
The Spanish biotech is called Mosaic Biomedicals, co-founded by Joan Seoane, the director of translational research at the Vall d’Hebron Institute of Oncology in Barcelona. He’s been working on an antibody that targets leukemia inhibitory factor, or LIF, a cytokine that is over expressed on certain solid tumors. The drug is designed to block a pathway involved in cancer progression.
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