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.

Portrait of Daniel

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

Fierce Biotech

Acelyrin scores series C that brings total raised in less than a year past $500M

Any biotech that can rake in half a billion dollars from investors in 12 months is clearly doing something right. The $300 million series C funding round Acelryin announced this morning means the inflammatory-disease-focused drug developer has reached that marker and now has its sights set on entering late-stage trials. The latest funding round, which follows a $250 million series B in November 2021, was led by Access Biotechnology and featured Acelyrin’s existing investors AyurMaya, Westlake Village BioPartners, Cowen Healthcare Investments, Decheng Capital, Marshall Wace, OrbiMed, Samsara BioCapital, Surveyor Capital, Tybourne Capital Management and venBio Partners. More

Endpoints News

Nimbus clinches $125M raise via big donor-backed private financing round following Bristol Myers’ TYK2 approval

The computational chemistry biotech, co-founded in 2009 by VC Bruce Booth, announced its most recent financing round Monday worth $125 million — Nimbus’ fifth big financing in the last seven years. The round includes two new investors: Bain Capital Life Sciences and SV Health Investors. Other previous investors tagged along, including Access Biotechnology, Atlas Venture, BVF Partners L.P., Bill Gates, Lightstone Ventures, Pfizer Ventures, RA Capital Management and SR One. More

Endpoints News

Verona’s COPD drug shines in PhIII study, potentially clearing path to FDA — shares jump

UK-based Verona Pharma’s COPD drug, ensifentrine, has succeeded in its Phase III trial, paving the way for a possible FDA approval. In Verona’s Phase III ENHANCE-2 study, roughly 800 patients with moderate to severe COPD received ensifentrine or placebo through a nebulizer twice a day for 24 weeks. At 12 hours post-treatment on week 12, the placebo-corrected change in forced expiratory volume (FEV1) — a standard measure of lung function that tests how much breath one can forcefully exhale in one second — was 94 mL, leading the trial to meet its primary endpoint. More

Endpoints News

No surrender: A group of marquee biotech players bets on the $350M PhIII resurrection story of a heavyweight contender

Anyone reading Biogen’s press release on the flat failure of dexpramipexole in treating ALS couldn’t overlook the note of finality then R&D chief Doug Williams used to mark its grave 10 years ago. The drug failed the primary endpoint. Follow-up analysis left no doubt about the flop. Williams recalls the readout in ALS as “a crushing blow.” And Biogen was done. Dex, though, was not. More

STAT

In early trial, drug shrinks tumors in majority of children with most common form of brain cancer

Day One Biopharmaceuticals reported Sunday that an experimental molecule shrank tumors by at least 50% in a majority of children with the most common form of childhood brain cancer, offering an early but rare glimmer of progress in a disease that has seen little over the last three decades. In the Phase 2 trial, 22 patients ages 3 to 18 with low-grade glioma who had progressed on at least three previous treatments were given a targeted drug called tovorafenib. Of those, 14 — or 64% — saw their tumors wither to less than half their size. Six others had stable disease. More

FierceBiotech

Samantha Truex did a rare thing last time she was CEO: admit defeat. She’s back with a new biotech and $200M

The last time Samantha Truex was CEO of a biotech, she did something rare: She admitted defeat. Quench Bio was wrapping up after a “successful failure” and doing so with money in the bank to hand some capital back to investors. Now, Truex is back at the helm of Upstream Bio, a new inflammatory disease biotech that has been quietly building over the past few months and is ready to reveal today with a whopping $200 million series A financing. That number is near the top in terms of funds raised this year so far, as biotechs take a beating on the market and an industry correction takes place. More

Endpoints News

Looking to run with Big Pharma, a radiopharma startup with backing from Atlas, RA thinks it has the chops to compete

Amid a renaissance in the field of radiopharmaceuticals, a growing chorus of biopharma players is rushing the stage to capitalize on tech breakthroughs. Biotech blue-chippers RA Capital and Atlas Venture, sensing an opportunity, are now setting up their own startup to challenge the big boys. Curie Therapeutics uncloaked from stealth Wednesday with $75 million in Series A funding from Atlas, RA and Access Biotechnology, with the goal of leveraging a seasoned team of experts to get the jump on the growing class of cancer therapeutics, the biotech said. More

Endpoints News

Former Blueprint vets take their new biotech out of stealth, with STAT3 in their sights

Recludix Pharma, a San Diego biotech launched by a founding team of Blueprint Medicines vets, pulled in a $60 million Series A on Monday, promising investors a path to the holy grail STAT3 mutation through what’s called the SH2 domain. Taking over as chief executive is Nancy Whiting, arriving after a 15-year run at Seagen that saw her run corporate strategy and late-stage development at various points. Investors in the round included NEA, Westlake Village BioPartners, and Access Industries. More

FierceBiotech

Nimbus raises $105M for multifront TYK2 clinical trial program

Nimbus Therapeutics has raised $105 million to put its allosteric TYK2 inhibitor through a clutch of phase 2 clinical trials. A syndicate of investors led by BVF Partners has come together to help Nimbus find out if its prospect lives up to that promise. Equipped with cash from new and existing investors including RA Capital Management, Atlas Venture, Access Biotechnology and Commodore Capital, Nimbus plans to start multiple phase 2 studies in 2021 and 2022. More

Endpoints News

Weeks out from an $80M launch, a pain and CNS startup is back with a fresh raise. Can an IPO be far behind?

Not two months after launching out of RA Capital’s incubator, Eliem Therapeutics is returning to the firm — and others — to raise another heap of cash. And this time, an IPO could potentially be in the works. Eliem has put together a $60 million Series B round co-led by RA Capital as it seeks to further advance two lead clinical candidates across four trials. Intermediate Capital Group co-led the round with RA Capital. Other investors included Access Biotechnology, Samlyn Capital, Acorn Bioventures and LifeArc. More

Endpoints News

It’s a new $DAWN for Day One as startup pivots to an IPO for more funding to back its work in pediatric cancer

Pediatric cancer biotech Day One Pharmaceuticals is headed for Nasdaq, in a move that comes less than three months after their work on a brain cancer treatment led to a nine-figure crossover round backed by some blue-chip investors. The South San Francisco-based company is penciling in $100 million as their initial IPO target, though the ultimate raise will likely be higher. More

The San Diego Union-Tribune

San Diego startup DTx Pharma raises $100M for platform to treat rare diseases

DTx Pharma, a 15-employee San Diego biotechnology company pursuing a platform for creating RNA-based therapies to treat genetic drivers of rare diseases, said Monday that it has raised $100 million in Series B round of financing. The early stage company, which previously raised $10.6 million in a Series A round in January 2020, is pursuing potential treatments in ophthalmology and for neuromuscular diseases initially. More
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