San Francisco VC fund invests in Toronto-based biotech spinoff, Northern Biologics

Among a flurry of late-year venture capital fund and funding announcements is a $10-million investment in Northern Biologics — one of the first made by the $305-million Versant Ventures V LP fund. Northern Biologics was incubated by and spun out of Toronto-based Blueline Biosciences (in which Versant is an investor) and has struck a collaborative relationship with Celgene Corp, Summit NJ, which holds the option to purchase Northern Biologics in the future.

With funding from Versant — a San Francisco-based venture capital firm that closed its latest fund earlier this month — Northern Biologics will advance development of its therapeutic antibodies. They were developed at U of T's Donnelly Centre for Cellular and Biomolecular Research, with subsequent development undertaken by the University Health Network (UHN).

Formed in partnership with the Univ of Toronto and UHN's Princess Margaret Cancer Centre , Northern Biologics has in-licensed intellectual property from both U of T and UHN to advance a portfolio of antibody-based therapeutics for both oncology and fibrosis.

Much of the underlying intellectual property (IP) was developed by Dr Sachdev Sidhu, a U of T researcher who helped establish the Toronto Recombinant Antibody Centre at the Donnelly Centre.

Sidhu was recently appointed head of the Centre for the Commercialization of Antibodies and Biologics, a new Centre of Excellence for Commercialization and Research with $15 million over five years. (The Donnelly Centre is also home to another CECR, the Centre for Commercialization of Regenerative Medicine).

Stefan Larson, entrepreneur-in-residence with Versant Ventures, will be Northern Biologics' CEO, and Jeanne Magram will serve as chief scientific officer.

Versant has announced its intention to make further investments in Toronto's IP-rich biotechnology sector and Sidhu could be a focal point, having assembled antibodies targeting a range of disease types. Versant is also active in Vancouver and Montreal.

Kensington fund

In other VC news, Kensington Capital Partners has launched a $300-million fund aimed at western Canadian opportunities in the areas of clean tech, telecom, digital media and information technology. With more than $160 million raised to date, the fund is the third to be backed by the $400-million federal Venture Capital Action Plan (VCAP) and includes investment by several Canadian banks, OpenText Corp and Richardson GMP.

Other VCAP-backed funds are Northleaf Venture Catalyst Fund and Teralys Capital Innovation Fund, with a fourth fund of funds to be announced in the near future.

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