A good track record can be valuable in the uncertain and risky world of drug development. For a group of life sciences investors, it’s worth at least some part of the $100 million they’ve invested in biotechnology startup BlossomHill Therapeutics.
BlossomHill, which announced the Series B funding on Thursday, was started by J. Jean Cui and Peter Li, whose previous drug company, Turning Point Therapeutics, sold to Bristol Myers Squibb for $4.1 billion. A decorated scientist, Cui was the lead inventor of two targeted cancer drugs while at Pfizer, and led Turning Point’s development of the now approved lung cancer treatment Augtyro.
“Jean has an outstanding track record of designing three FDA-approved cancer drugs, and we look forward to supporting the company’s next phase of development,” Sundeep Agrawal, general partner at Colt Ventures, which led BlossomHill’s Series B, said in a statement.
BlossomHill is preparing to move its first two cancer drugs into Phase 1 clinical trials, and is also advancing discovery research on drugs for autoimmune diseases.
While the company hasn’t entirely pulled back the curtain on its work, it aims to develop precision medicines that can address the resistance mechanisms cancers can co-opt to evade treatment.
The biotech previously raised $71 million in a Series A round that closed in 2021. Alongside Colt, investors in the Series B included Cormorant Asset Management, OrbiMed, Vivo Capital, Hercules BioVentures Partners, Plaisance Capital Management and H&D Asset Management.
Agrawal has joined BlossomHill’s board of directors, as will Vivo Capital Principal Timothy Stubbs. The company is based just north of the University of California, San Diego campus.
