Third Rock Ventures Builds Sustainable Life Science Companies

Founded in 2007 and headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, Third Rock Ventures, LLC is a venture capital firm with a portfolio comprising more than 58 life science companies—all of which share the central mission of translating scientific discoveries and ideas into breakthrough medicines.

It aims to find and build sustainable, innovative life science companies that can transform patients’ lives. Third Rock also seeks to improve the healthcare sector through big ideas and collaboration with medical experts and scientists. Recently, the firm has raised a $770 Million Fund V. With Fund V, Third Rock will be able to continue discovering and launching life science companies focused on several areas of unmet medical needs such as cancer, rare genetic disorders, immune disorders, and more.

The team at Third Rock Ventures

The team at Third Rock is vast and diverse, but everyone shares one goal and makes the same concerted effort—to make a difference in the lives of the patients they serve. The team consists of brilliant professionals specializing in science, medicine, pharmaceuticals, business, and strategy.

Some of the firm’s key players include:

• Christoph Lengauer, Ph.D.: He is an accomplished scientist and is a venture partner of Third Rock Ventures. His role is to build great teams and ensure that their companies succeed.

• Robert Tepper, MD: He is a distinguished scientist and the co-founder of Third Rock. His role is to focus on the companies’ formation, development, and scientific strategies and identify and evaluate new company ideas.

• Kevin Gillis: Gillis is a partner and the Chief Operating Officer (COO) at Third Rock. He primarily leads non-investment activities such as running internal operations and overseeing the firm’s financial, legal, and administrative functions. He also leads the fundraising activities and manages partnership relationships.

Investment Approach and Strategy

Third Rock focuses on investing in medical, pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and healthcare companies. It also has a mission to be the preferred partner for entrepreneurs, investors, employees, and other industry professionals. Its unique approach to investing in innovative companies comprises four major cornerstones; these are described below:

1. Discover

At Third Rock, the initial Discovery stage is a collaborative and iterative process. The aim is to discover the unmet medical needs and bring a transformative change through emerging fields of science and medicine.

First, with the involvement of leading founders and expert advisors, a clear vision and business strategy are developed. These two things are developed with the company’s unique patients at the center.

2. Launch

After the Discovery stage, the company concept is further workshopped and refined. This is also the stage in which Third Rock begins to back the company with the necessary technical, financial, and human resources to reach its first milestones. Soon after, Third Rock becomes active members of the company’s leadership team; it serves in interim executive roles to help develop and execute R&D strategies.

3. Build

Third Rock then builds upon this momentum in the aptly named Build stage. Third Rock steps away from the interim roles and then introduces experienced and motivated management teams. This way, Third Rock can serve as board members who support and work with these management teams, bringing necessary resources when needed.

4. Transform

Lastly, life science companies can begin transforming the lives of their patients. In this final stage, Third Rock works relentlessly to develop and deliver life-changing and even life-saving products. To date, Third Rock portfolio companies have launched a total of 16 products.

Third Rock Ventures’ Portfolio

Third Rock’s portfolio consists of life science companies with a solid foundation that is in sync with the firm’s core values. These companies hold the potential to make use of transformational science that will ultimately improve lives. Some of the many healthcare, biotech, pharma, and medical companies are:

• Tango Therapeutics: A biotechnology company working on discovering novel drug targets and targeted therapies. Tango is focused on three core areas: 1) counteracting tumor suppressor gene loss, 2) reversing the ability of cancer cells to evade the immune response, and 3) identify novel combinations that will be more efficient than single-agent therapy.

• Element Science: A medical device company focused on developing wearable therapeutic devices with user-centric design. Element focuses on rigorous medical device development and product deployment.

• bluebird bio: This company works on developing gene therapies for severe genetic disorders like adrenoleukodystrophy, sickle cell disease, cell therapy, and (mega-TAL-enabled) gene editing.

• Flare Therapeutics: A biotech company developing small molecule medicines to decipher the biology of transcription factors. Flare’s drug discovery targets the “switch sites” for transcription factor regulation to address mutations that cause diseases.

• Warp Drive Bio: In 2018, Warp Drive Bio was acquired by REVOLUTION Medicines, Inc. Today, it is focused on exploring the molecules and mechanisms of nature to create transformative medicines.

To explore other portfolio companies, please visit www.thirdrockventures.com.

Founder and Investor-friendly Leasing Solutions

Third Rock Ventures is a life science investment firm with a solid foundation of values and aims to support companies with the potential to save patient lives. It supports biotech, pharma, and medical startups to launch products in the market that make an impact on patient lives.

To attract investments and become a portfolio company of such ventures, a well-furnished lab is a must.

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