Access Biotechnology

Investment Philosophy

Access Biotechnology invests in transformative therapies for conditions with high unmet needs and that have the potential to meaningfully impact human health.

Our approach is characterized by the following:

Broad Scope

We invest in both private and public biopharma companies across therapeutic areas, modalities, and development stages – from discovery-stage technology platforms to late-stage clinical programs.

Long-Term Orientation

Free from the constraints of a typical venture fund cycle, we aim to support the growth of our portfolio companies and build our investments over the long haul.

Flexibility

We adapt our approach to the needs of individual opportunities, while continually adjusting to shifts in the external environment.

Technical Rigor

We leverage our medical and scientific backgrounds to evaluate opportunities deeply, thoughtfully, and efficiently.

Collaborative Style

We partner with founders, management, and fellow investors to build and grow companies that are developing important new medicines.

Emphasis on Fundamental Value Creation

We invest in people, data, and innovation, not momentum or hype. We believe that financial returns will parallel the value we create for patients, caregivers, and society.

Team

Liam Ratcliffe

Head of Biotechnology

Liam Ratcliffe joined Access in April 2019 as head of biotechnology. He was previously Managing Director at New Leaf Venture Partners, where he focused on investing in therapeutic and therapeutic platform companies for 10 years. Prior to joining New Leaf, Liam was Senior Vice President and Development Head for Neuroscience, as well as Worldwide Head of Clinical Research and Development at Pfizer, where he spent a total of 12 years. Liam received his medical degree and Ph.D. in Immunology from the University of Cape Town and his M.B.A. from the University of Michigan. He completed his internal medicine training and fellowship in Immunology at Groote Schuur Hospital and associated teaching hospitals in Cape Town, South Africa.

Dan Becker

Managing Director

Dan Becker joined Access Biotechnology in August 2019. Prior to Access, Dan was a Principal at New Leaf Venture Partners, where he played a key role in multiple private and public biopharma investments, and a Principal in the Health Care practice at the Boston Consulting Group, where he led projects across the health care sector with an emphasis on biopharma R&D. Dan trained clinically in internal medicine and nephrology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital, and was a Research Fellow at Harvard Medical School. He obtained both his M.D. and Ph.D. (Cellular and Molecular Biology) degrees from the University of Michigan, and received his B.S. in Physiology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Christine Borowski

Vice President

Christine Borowski joined Access Biotechnology as a Senior Associate in July 2019.  Prior to that she worked on therapeutics company creation at Apple Tree Partners.  Before becoming an investor, Christine worked as an editor at several high-impact scientific journals, most recently as Chief Editor of Nature Medicine.  She earned a Ph.D. in Immunology at Harvard University, studying thymocyte development in the laboratory of Harald von Boehmer.  Her postdoctoral work in the lab of Albert Bendelac at the University of Chicago focused on natural killer T cell development.

Portfolio Companies

Exited Investments

In the News

EndPoints News

Mariana Oncology, a radiopharma startup founded by top-tier VCs, nabs $175M Series B

Mariana Oncology, a biotech incubated by three prominent life sciences VC firms, closed a $175 million Series B round Thursday morning, as its first pipeline program prepares to begin human testing sometime next year. The startup, founded as Curie Therapeutics by Atlas Venture, RA Capital Management and Access Biotechnology, will focus that drug candidate in small cell lung cancer patients. More

Endpoints News

Day One Biopharmaceuticals inks research collaboration with Swedish biotech

Day One Biopharmaceuticals secured a research and licensing deal with Sprint Bioscience in a bid to build out its cancer-fighting arsenal. The Bay Area biotech is paying $3 million upfront for the global rights of one of Sprint’s cancer programs known as VADA, which is designed to target the protein known as vaccinia-related kinase 1 or VRK1, which is prevalent in kidney, liver and pancreatic cancer. More

Endpoints News

Following Dupixent’s rise, Sanofi heads downstream in immunology for $125M small molecule pact with Recludix

As Sanofi expands the reach of its blockbuster Dupixent, the French Big Pharma is looking to go further downstream in the IL-13 and IL-4 space with more inflammation and immunology drugs. It’s doling out $125 million in upfront payments to Recludix Pharma to do so. This is Sanofi’s second preclinical collaboration of the week, following a sickle cell disease tie-up with Scribe Therapeutics. More

Endpoints News

Novartis to buy siRNA developer DTx Pharma for up to $1B

Novartis will continue to add siRNA capabilities to its tool belt in a deal worth up to $1 billion. The Swiss pharma acquired DTx Pharma, a San Diego-based biotech with a siRNA therapy that it wants to start testing in patients with Carcot-Marie-Tooth disease Type 1A (CMT1A), a neuromuscular disease that can cause loss of muscle function. There are about 150,000 patients with CMT1A in the US and Europe. More

Endpoints News

Eli Lilly inks $2.4B cash deal to buy DICE and its immunology pipeline

Eli Lilly is joining the “blistering” pace of M&A this year as it bets $2.4 billion in cash on DICE Therapeutics, a publicly traded biotech with oral IL-17 inhibitors in the clinic. Lilly expects to pay $48.00 per share of DICE stock at a 40% 30-day premium, with the deal set to close in the third quarter. More

Endpoints News

Disc Medicine claims PhII win for repurposed ex-Roche drug in rare blood disorder

When Disc Medicine closed a $62.5 million raise led by Bain Capital earlier this year, the biotech’s CEO John Quisel pointed to the stream of clinical readouts in blood disorders it is expecting as the impetus. Now, it’s outlining the first of those data — with an open-label Phase II trial providing what it calls the first clinical evidence supporting its lead candidate in a rare disease that makes patients extra-sensitive to sunlight, resulting in extreme pain. More

Endpoints News

Upstream Bio matches first funding round with another $200M to get asthma drug to PhIII

Upstream Bio has raised another $200 million to go through Phase II studies and prepare for late-stage trials of an ex-Astellas monoclonal antibody in anticipation of competition with AstraZeneca and Amgen’s asthma drug Tezspire. More

Endpoints news

Day One goes to the market for $150M as biotech kicks off NDA request for pediatric brain cancer drug

Day One Biopharmaceuticals will offer up more than 11.5 million shares to nab $150 million in gross proceeds after the biotech last month started a rolling submission for its pediatric brain cancer drug, which had a fresh data drop at last weekend’s ASCO. More

Endpoints News

Q&A: Acelyrin CEO Shao-Lee Lin details biotech’s $540M IPO, finding ‘diamonds in the rough’

Acelyrin started trading on the Nasdaq Friday morning in one of the largest biotech initial public offerings in recent memory, with $540 million in gross proceeds and potentially $621 million if underwriters exercise their 30-day option to buy more shares. More

Endpoints News

Acelyrin sets out for a 2021-sized IPO for California biotech’s PhIII drug

Drug licensor and developer Acelyrin revealed more of its IPO plans Monday morning, mapping out what could be one of the biggest biotech IPOs in the past few years if it raises $370 million by pricing at the high end of its proposed range. The California biotech aims to sell 20.6 million shares of common stock between $16 and $18 apiece and trade on Nasdaq as “$SLRN,” Acelyrin revealed Monday morning as it kicks off a roadshow to court potential investors. The immunology biotech plans to offer underwriters a 30-day option to buy up to 3.09 million more shares. More

EndPoints News

Rare blood disorders biotech Hemab raises $135M, begins trek into clinic

Hemab Therapeutics, led by Alnylam vet Benny Sorensen and chaired by John Maraganore, has raised $135 million from a new crop of investors as it begins pushing its blood disorder programs into the clinic. Hemab’s Series B was led by Access Biotechnology, followed by Deep Track Capital, Avoro Capital, Invus, Rock Springs Capital and Danish fund Maj Invest Equity — all new investors. Investors from the biotech’s $55 million Series A — Novo Holdings, RA Capital Management, and HealthCap — also returned for the round. More

Endpoints News

PROTACs to RIPTACs: Arvinas founder snags $76M for next bet, Halda Therapeutics

A leader in the protein degradation space, Yale’s Craig Crews, is back with another biotech, Halda Therapeutics. On Tuesday, the startup announced $76 million in funding to take forward a new technology out of Crews’ lab, called RIPTACs, or Regulated Induced Proximity TArgeting Chimeras. The 26-employee startup emerged from hid decades-long work on heterobifunctional molecules, he told Endpoints News, dating back to his 2001 paper on PROTACs which formed the foundation for Arvinas in 2013. More
see all posts