5AM Ventures Closes $500M in New Funds to Advance Cell and Digital Therapies

VCBeat (WeChat Official Account: vcbeat) has learned that U.S. biotech venture capital firm 5AM Ventures recently announced the fundraising of two new funds totaling $497 million—5AM Ventures VI and 5AM Opportunities I—which will be used for new investments and existing portfolio companies, respectively.

5AM Ventures, founded in 2002 and headquartered in California, is a venture capital firm that provides funding to seed- and early-stage life sciences companies, with a commitment to building the next generation of life sciences companies capable of delivering substantial returns to investors. The firm’s portfolio includes companies in the biopharmaceutical, life sciences, medical technology, and research instrumentation sectors, with investment focus on biopharmaceuticals, drug delivery technologies, and life sciences instruments.

5AM Ventures stated that the 5AM Ventures VI Fund will focus on investing in new biotechnology companies, while the 5AM Opportunities I Fund will provide additional investment opportunities for its portfolio of existing companies. Capital for these funds is sourced from corporations, public pension funds, endowments, foundations, family offices, and funds of funds.

According to documents filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) by 5AM Ventures on October 4, 2018, the $350 million raised in total for the 5AM Ventures VI fund was consistent with the amount the firm had sought to raise when launching the fund. Filing documents for the 5AM Opportunities I Fund, released on the same day, indicated a fundraising target of $150 million.

Cabaletta Bio, a biotechnology company headquartered in Radnor, Pennsylvania, is a portfolio company of 5AM Ventures. The company raised $50 million in its Series B financing round last month, with participation from the venture capital firm 5AM Ventures.

Cabaletta Bio is developing a cell therapy called CAAR-Ts for the treatment of autoimmune diseases, similar to CAR-T therapies used to treat blood cancers, such as Novartis’s Kymriah (tisagenlecleucel) and Gilead Sciences’ Yescarta (axicabtagene ciloleucel).

Cabaletta’s therapeutic platform generates highly selective chimeric autoantibody receptor (CAAR) T cells. The high target specificity of these T cells enables the elimination of pathogenic B cells without impairing normal B cell function, while preserving healthy B cells that are vital for human health and protection against infection, thereby offering an ideal combination of efficacy and safety.

Another company in 5AM Ventures’ portfolio is Pear Therapeutics, a Boston-based U.S. provider of digital health solutions that specializes in developing digital therapeutics and combination drug/digital software solutions to treat conditions with unmet medical needs.

Pear Therapeutics’ flagship product, ReSET™, is the first FDA-cleared digital therapeutic for the treatment of substance use disorder (SUD), serving as an adjunctive therapy in the treatment of dependence on stimulants, cannabis, cocaine, or alcohol.

In addition to ReSET™, Pear Therapeutics is developing a wide range of digital therapeutic products. For instance, reSET-O™ is the first treatment for opioid use disorder (OUD). reVIVE™ is designed to treat generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) and panic disorder (PD), and it is also used in conjunction with pharmacotherapy to intervene in these conditions.

(Compiled by Tan Xin)