Third Rock Ventures Raises $426 Million Fund II
Announces Strategic Additions to Team and Opening of West Coast Office
BOSTON & SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Third Rock Ventures, L.L.C, a venture capital firm focused on building life sciences companies, today announced the final closing of Fund II, raising $426 million in an oversubscribed fund. With Fund II, Third Rock will continue to execute on its strategy and build on its successful track record of launching and supporting transformative life sciences companies.
"We are grateful for the strong support for our model and the significant interest from our existing and new investors," said Kevin Starr, partner of Third Rock Ventures. "In 2007, we founded Third Rock with a $378 million Fund I, which enabled us to successfully seed, support or launch more than 15 life sciences companies. These companies were formed around disruptive areas of science and medicine and many were developed as part of Third Rock's unique company discovery process. We look forward to continuing to partner with entrepreneurs, researchers and company founders to pursue bold ideas and groundbreaking science that promise to dramatically improve the lives of patients."
New Additions to the Third Rock Team
Third Rock is announcing several changes and additions to the team. These include the promotion of Alexis Borisy from entrepreneur-in-residence (EIR) to partner at Third Rock; the addition of Charles Homcy, M.D. (formerly chief executive officer of Portola Pharmaceuticals) as venture partner leading the newly established West Coast office; and the addition of David Armistead, Ph.D., (formerly chief scientific officer of CGI Pharmaceuticals - now Gilead), and Chris Varma (formerly with Flagship Ventures) as EIRs. As recently announced, Nick Leschly, formerly a partner with Third Rock Ventures, has assumed the role of president and CEO of portfolio company bluebird bio.
Robert Tepper, M.D., Third Rock Ventures partner stated, "We are delighted to bring added breadth and depth to our team with senior capabilities in commercial, R&D, drug discovery and product development. These new hires add critical mass to our team and extend the guidance and support we can provide to our portfolio companies."
Third Rock Opens San Francisco Office
Third Rock is establishing an office in San Francisco to better enable the firm to work directly with its growing portfolio of West Coast-based companies. Third Rock partner Craig Muir and principal Jake Bauer are relocating to San Francisco where they will work closely with Dr. Homcy as well as the Boston-based team.
"Our approach has always been to closely engage and collaborate with experts, academic centers and entrepreneurs, and the West Coast office enables us to extend our reach and maintain this model," stated Mark Levin, partner of Third Rock Ventures. "I am personally very excited to work with Charles again in leading R&D efforts and launching new companies. With Craig and Jake from our Boston office joining Charles in San Francisco, this team will seamlessly integrate across Third Rock to collaborate with entrepreneurs to build, launch and operate our portfolio companies."
About Third Rock Ventures
Third Rock Ventures is a venture firm focused on life sciences, investing and launching companies that make a difference in people's lives. Collaborating with entrepreneurs, the Third Rock team applies its deep expertise to establish the roadmap and building blocks for a rapidly growing and highly successful life sciences company. The Third Rock team has a unique vision and experience in building great companies, extensive academic and industry networks and a collective track record for creatively managing the value creation path to deliver exceptional performance. For more information, please visit the firm's website at www.thirdrockventures.com.
Current Third Rock Portfolio Companies
Ablexis, Afferent Pharmaceuticals, Agios Pharmaceuticals, Alnara Pharmaceuticals, bluebird bio, Constellation Pharmaceuticals, DC Devices, Edimer Pharmaceuticals, Eleven Biotherapeutics, Foundation Medicine, Nine Point Medical, Seventh Sense Biosystems and Zafgen.