Monday, March 3, 2008

Crane, Bitterman launch new biotech Parasol

By Ryan McBride

A newly hatched biotech has been quietly launched by cofounders of Sirtris Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Momenta Pharmaceuticals Inc., as well as by a former executive of Millennium Pharmaceuticals Inc.

The founders of biotech startup Parasol Therapeutics Inc. are known for their roles at the three publicly traded biotechs in Cambridge -- but the details of their new venture are cloaked in secrecy. What is known is that the biotech's headquarters is listed as the same address as Polaris Venture Partners of Waltham, according to state and federal documents.

Polaris is the only venture firm identified as an investor in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, which documents a $3.5 million seed round of financing, of which Parasol has closed $2 million.

The biotech was formed in December 2007, according to public documents.

Kevin Bitterman, a Polaris principal who cofounded Cambridge biotech Sirtris, is listed as an executive and director of Parasol. Polaris venture partner Alan Crane, a former senior vice president at Millennium, based in Cambridge, is also named as a director of Parasol.

Crane said in an e-mail he had nothing to report on Parasol at this time. Details about the company's business strategy or its science were not available.

The third founder of Parasol is Ram Sasisekharan, a professor of biological engineering at MIT, who helped found biotech Momenta, based in Cambridge. Momenta says on its website that Sasisekharan's research of polysaccharides, which are complex carbohydrates, contributed to the core technology of Momenta. The professor is on the board of Momenta along with Crane, the biotech's former CEO.

Bitterman, Crane and Sasisekharan have joined forces at another Polaris-backed startup, Cambridge biotech Tempo Pharmaceuticals Inc. Crane is CEO of Tempo and said Sasisekharan is a scientific founder of Tempo, which is developing nanoparticle treatments for cancer and other diseases. Bitterman is an observer on Tempo's board of directors.

Bitterman led Polaris' investment in hot biotech Sirtris, based in Cambridge, which has made national headlines for its development of a drug formulation of resveratrol, a substance found in red wine that studies show restricts calories.