President Trump’s tenure as the 45th POTUS has begun with even more fireworks than most pundits predicted – protests, marches, bans, and lots of other drama. The coastal Twitter/Facebook bubbles are exploding with anger and rage, while the Trump populists

This blog was written by Jeb Keiper, CBO of Nimbus Therapeutics LLC, as part of the From The Trenches feature of LifeSciVC. Walking the streets of Union Square in mid-January torrential rain, we had the good fortune of sharing the

Today Celgene announced its acquisition of Delinia for $300 million upfront, and up to $475 million in milestones, adding to its growing portfolio of novel immunology medicines. Delinia’s rapid trajectory over the past fifteen months has been exciting to watch: this

This blog was written by Adam Rosenberg, CEO of Rodin Therapeutics and Atlas EIR, as part of the From The Trenches feature of LifeSciVC.   In my February 2016 post, I wrote “if some of the current generation of high-profile,

This blog was written by Michael Gladstone, Principal at Atlas Venture, as part of the From The Trenches feature of LifeSciVC. The biotech industry was reeling after the 2016 J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference, with many commentators foretelling doom in the

Today Allergan announced a transformative deal with Lysosomal Therapeutics (LTI), an emerging biotech focused on Parkinson’s Disease through an understanding of human genetics and sphingolipid biology (here). This deal brings a new chapter for LTI as we move our lead

Good riddance to 2016, and a warm embrace to 2017 – or so is the sentiment of most biotech investors as they head into the 35th annual JPM Healthcare Conference. Many have bemoaned last year as an abysmal one for

Pharma R&D productivity continues to be a critical issue for the industry. Making smart investments in R&D requires an understanding of the risk and return drivers across the product development cycle, as well as some good fortune. This week the

Earnout payments have been nearly ubiquitous in biotech M&A transactions for the past decade. Given the risks, costs, and timelines in drug R&D, these contingent value rights, or “biobucks”, play an important role in bridging the gap in valuation expectations

Everyone wants to invest in a Unicorn, or so it seems. These are the investments that legendary track records are made of. But truth be told, Unicorns don’t always lead to the biggest pots of gold at the end of

This blog was written by both Bill Marshall, CEO of MiRagen Therapeutics, and Ron Renaud, CEO of RaNA Therapeutics, as part of the From The Trenches feature of LifeSciVC. Recent news from Alnylam, Ionis, and Mirna Therapeutics regarding toxicity-related setbacks

Venture capital has been on a good run over the past few years across a range of sectors; even with recent slowdown relative to 2014-2015, venture-backed investments remain above historic averages.  In fact, the first three quarters of 2016 alone