GSK hands cash and tech to a biotech startup pointed down the same R&D road they want to travel
GlaxoSmithKline has chipped in to a $30 million startup round for a biotech that’s setting out on a new research mission which fits neatly into the pharma giant’s own freshly re-defined pharma R&D strategy. It’s not a big-money deal by any means; GSK’s in for £5 million. But it reflects the pharma giant’s transatlantic interests and extensive ties to academic discovery teams.
GSK came into the syndicate for the Oxford-based upstart alongside SV Health Investors, Sofinnova Partners and the Longwood Fund, contributing some of its own expertise focused on the interplay of metabolic pathways and immune cells in the development of cancer and autoimmune diseases to get Sitryx up and running. GSK’s new R&D chief Hal Barron has tapped immunology as one of his core focuses, with a big interest in immuno-oncology and autoimmune work.
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