Backed with $800 Million Resilience Aims to Change the Future of Medicine through Manufacturing Innovation

Rare Daily Staff

Resilience has launched with more than $800 million in funding to build what it bills as the world’s most advanced biopharmaceutical manufacturing ecosystem.

Founded by Arch Venture Partners’ Robert Nelsen, and 8VC, the company has the goal of developing powerful new technologies to manufacture complex medicines that are defining the future of therapeutics, including cell and gene therapies, viral vectors, vaccines, and proteins.

In doing so, it seeks to overcome one of the biggest challenges the biopharmaceutical industry is facing in pioneering novel treatment modalities—manufacturing. Resilience will dramatically increase overall production capacity for these modalities, ensuring that important medicines are accessible to all patients in need and protecting against supply chain disruption.

“We created Resilience to reimagine biopharmaceutical manufacturing through unprecedented investment in technology and a best-in-class team to execute our vision,” said Robert Nelsen, founder, chairman of the board, and managing director at Arch Venture Partners. “COVID-19 has exposed critical vulnerabilities in medical supply chains, and today’s manufacturing can’t keep up with scientific innovation, medical discovery, and the need to rapidly produce and distribute critically important drugs at scale. We are committed to tackling these huge problems with a whole new business model.”

Resilience seeks to address today’s challenges while investing in the future of U.S.-led biopharmaceutical innovation. The company will offer customized and scalable processes, short lead times, the highest quality and regulatory capabilities, and world-class manufacturing facilities. It will serve partners of all sizes, including pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, universities, independent research organizations, and government programs. By enabling complex medicine manufacturing that is faster, more flexible, and less risky, Resilience empowers partners to focus on generating discoveries that improve medical outcomes and save patients’ lives.

“Our aim with Resilience is to improve manufacturing of breakthrough medicines so that they are more accessible to patients and to foster scientific innovation that makes new modalities of medicine possible,” said Co-Founder and CEO Rahul Singhvi. “By providing improved process platforms and the highest quality manufacturing network, Resilience has been designed to help society meet the challenges of tomorrow, whether that’s the next pandemic or high demand for a great new medicine.”

Resilience has raised more than $800 million of capital following the recent series B raise of approximately $750 million, not tied to milestones, from investors that collectively manage more than $5 trillion. Led by Arch Venture Partners and 8VC with participation by GV and NEA, investors include public mutual funds, some of the largest U.S.-based pharmaceutical companies, foundations, family offices, and pension funds, among others.

“It is critical that we adopt solutions that will protect the manufacturing supply chain, and provide more certainty around drug development and the ability to scale up the manufacturing of safe, effective but also more complex products that science is making possible,” said Scott Gottlieb, former commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration and member of the Resilience board of directors. “Resilience will enable these solutions by combining cutting edge technology, an unrivaled pool of talent, and the industry’s first shared service business model. Similar to Amazon Web Services, Resilience will empower drug developers with the tools to more fully align discovery, development, and manufacturing; while offering new opportunities to invest in downstream innovations in formulation and manufacturing earlier, while products are still being conceived and developed.”

The company will span the U.S., Canada, and partner nations, and is led by executives, a board of directors, and advisors with experience at the highest levels of business, the biopharmaceutical industry, academia, and government.

“We aim to create a trusted biopharmaceutical technology company that can reliably and efficiently produce new medicines,” said Patrick Yang, co-founder and vice chairman, Resilience. “Resilience will invest heavily in next generation capabilities and in its people to ensure that great medicines are made in time and at scale for the patients.”

Photo: Robert Nelsen, Resilience founder, chairman of the board, and managing director at Arch Venture Partners