Monday, December 3, 2007

Hub biotech biggies launch new stem cell startup

By Ryan McBride

Top scientists and investors from the Boston area have helped form a new biotechnology firm focused on new stem cell treatments. But the location of its headquarters is still up for debate -- and could end up on the West Coast, company officials say.

The new company, Fate Therapeutics, boasts scientific founders that include David Scadden, a director of the Harvard Stem Cell Institute, and Leonard Zon, director of the stem cell program at Children's Hospital, of Boston.

Polaris Venture Partners, of Waltham, is among the venture backers to provide $12 million in seed financing for the company.

Amir Nashat, a general partner at Polaris and director at Fate Therapeutics, said some of the biotech firm's employees are based in Seattle. Yet the headquarters would likely be located wherever the firm finds a CEO, he said, adding that the firm plans to open research offices in Massachusetts regardless of where its headquarters is located.

The firm aims to develop chemical-based, or small molecule, drugs intended to "awaken" stem cells in the body to combat diseases and regenerate tissue. Its other molecules would reprogram adult cells to an embryonic state. None of the firm's treatments would be derived from embryonic stem cells, the company says.

Other local notables involved in Fate Therapeutics include Massachusetts Institute of Technology professors Robert Langer and Ram Sasisekharan, both of whom serve on the firm's scientific advisory board.

The biotech's other backers include Arch Venture Partners and Venrock.