BioMotiv

BioMotiv

Industry	Biotechnology
Founded	Cleveland, Ohio, 2012
Key people	Baiju Shah, CEO
Subsidiaries	Orca Pharmaceuticals Dual Therapeutics Kodosil Bio OptiKira
Website	www.biomotiv.com

BioMotiv is an accelerator company associated with The Harrington Project, a national initiative centered at University Hospitals of Cleveland. The company is designed to accelerate breakthrough discoveries into medicines by advancing a portfolio of novel therapeutics in all disease areas and types of therapeutics — small molecules, antibodies, proteins, cell therapies, and nucleotides – from the discovery to pre-clinical stages of development and will also consider drug re-purposing opportunities. Opportunities are sourced primarily through relationships with research institutions and disease foundations.

History

In response to recent decline in the number of traditional biotechnology venture capital firms,^[1] BioMotiv utilizes an asset-centric model to in-license, fund, and manage technologies in-house.^[2] Their goal is to address the “valley of death" ^[3] between research, discovery, and early clinical-stage drug development. Projects are advanced by the management team through clinical proof-of-concept and then out-licensed via strategic alliances with pharmaceutical companies.^[4]

The company has raised over $135 million to date, with a goal of raising $150 million in total. Major investors include The Harrington Family, University Hospitals of Cleveland, Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company,^[5] Takeda Pharmaceutical Company,^[6] Biogen,^[7] Arix Bioscience^[8] and Charles River Laboratories.^[9]

Leadership

BioMotiv is managed by an executive team, including

• Baiju R. Shah, CEO
• David C. U’Prichard, PhD, Chairman of the Advisory Board
• Ted Torphy, PhD, Chief Scientific Officer
• Terry Vance, Chief Business Officer

The company attracted Baiju R. Shah, former CEO of BioEnterprise, a non-profit aimed at boosting Cleveland’s healthcare economy,^[10] to lead its efforts.^[11] Prior to founding BioEnterprise, Baiju Shah worked at McKinsey & Company.^[12] David C. U’Prichard, PhD is Chairman of the Advisory Board; he has served on a number of biotechnology boards, as a venture partner at several funds, and was Chairman of Research and Development at SmithKline Beecham. Ted Torphy, PhD is the Chief Scientific Officer; he is an advisor to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and was previously Global Head of External Innovation at Johnson & Johnson.

Subsidiaries

On September 9, 2013, BioMotiv announced the launch of its first company, Orca Pharmaceuticals, based in Oxford, England, in collaboration with the New York University Innovation Venture Fund. Orca is developing RAR-related orphan receptor gamma (RORy) inhibitors for the treatments of psoriasis, ankylosing spondylitis and inflammatory bowel disease.^[13] In February 2015, Orca entered into a three-year development collaboration with AstraZeneca in a deal worth up to $122.5 million in upfront and milestone payments.^[14]

BioMotiv and the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai announced the formation of Dual Therapeutics in October 2013. Dual is developing new treatments for prostate cancer, lung cancer, and acute lymphoblastic leukemia.^[15] One of Dual Therapeutics’ co-founders, Dr. Goutham Narla, was selected as the Harrington Project’s inaugural Harrington Distinguished Scholar.^[16] Some of the team’s work was funded by a $250,000 BioAccelerate NYC Prize from the Partnership for New York City Fund last year.^[17] The company opened with a $2.5 million round of funding, according to a SEC filing.^[18]

In November 2013, BioMotiv and the Foundation Fighting Blindness announced they will fund $400,000 for a discovery-stage project that could lead to treatment for retinitis pigmentosa (RP).^[19]

BioMotiv launched Kodosil Bio in early 2014 to develop an antibody for the treatment of inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) and oncologic indications. BioMotiv exclusively licensed the technology from BioAtla, a global biotechnology company based in San Diego, CA.^[20]

The newest BioMotiv company is OptiKira, which is focused on stopping the accumulation of misfolded or unfolded proteins, which leads to cell death. The company’s technology is based on discoveries developed at and licensed from The University of California, San Francisco. The founders have helped define the biological pathway leading to progressive cell death which characterizes diseases such as retinitis pigmentosa, diabetes, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).^[21]

Partnerships

In September 2014, BioMotiv entered into a 5-year strategic partnership with Takeda Pharmaceutical Company in the areas of Immunology & Inflammation and Cardio-metabolic Diseases.^[22] One year later, BioMotiv entered into a similar partnership with Biogen in the area of neuroscience.^[23]

On the foundation side, BioMotiv has a partnership with Cures Within Reach to advance Rediscovery Research™ projects targeted at lung cancer via a joint request for proposals issued to leading academic medical centers.^[24]

BioMotiv also has a partnership with the Foundation Fighting Blindness as they are co-funding a discovery-stage project that could lead to treatment for Retinitis pigmentosa (RP).

See also

• Medical Research
• Translational Research
• Biotechnology

Further reading

• Crossing Over the Valley of Death. Faster Cures. Faster Cures
• Biotech Funding Gets Harder to Find. Wall Street Journal. Wall Street Journal

References

External links

• Official Websites: BioMotiv,The Harrington Project