BridgeBio Pharma Raises $135 Million and Discloses Rare Disease Pipeline

Rare Daily Staff

BridgeBio, which focuses on early-stage discovery and development of therapies for rare diseases, said it raised $135 million in a new round of funding co-led by new investor Viking Global Investors and existing investor KKR.

New investors AIG, Aisling Capital, Cormorant Capital, and Janus Funds also joined the round with existing investor Perceptive Advisors. BridgeBio said the new financing will be used to support existing programs and establish novel efforts.

Palo Alto, California-based BridgeBio Pharma was formed in 2015 by a team of R&D veterans from biotech and academia. The company seeks to translate novel scientific discoveries from universities, academic medical centers, and pharmaceutical research groups into genetically-targeted therapeutics that address the fundamental causes of disease.

The company is seeking to cost-effectively develop drugs for rare diseases through what it describes as a “hub and spoke” corporate structure that provides centralized capabilities for a diverse portfolio of drug programs that are individually housed subsidiary companies. To date, BridgeBio has launched ten drug programs under its dermatology, oncology, cardiology, neurology and endocrine business units.

“Modern drug discovery requires modern business infrastructure,” said company co-founder and investor Andrew Lo, professor at the MIT Sloan School of Management and director of the Laboratory for Financial Engineering. “Despite the terrific scientific innovations we’ve seen in biomedicine, there’s been much less innovation on the corporate side. BridgeBio employs a novel structure that combines portfolio diversification with asset-level focus to sustainably develop drugs for genetic disease.”   

September 13, 2017