Press releasesClavystBio
ClavystBio Launches Node 1 to Bring Together Life Sciences Communities to Catalyse Global Human Health Solutions
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Singapore, 4 October 2023 – ClavystBio, a life sciences venture builder, today announced the launch of its collaborative innovation space Node 1 at Singapore Science Park by Deputy Prime Minister Mr Heng Swee Keat. Node 1 will convene life science communities, fostering collaboration and partnerships among innovators, entrepreneurs and investors across the world to catalyse global human health solutions.
Node 1 strengthens ClavystBio’s mission to accelerate the translation of life sciences breakthroughs into human health impact. Its plug-and-play spaces (laboratories and offices) provide accessible infrastructure for new ventures that have graduated from incubators to progress to their next milestones. Node 1 also promotes interaction and collaboration between the public and private sectors by convening discussion panels, workshops and focus groups.
Khoo Shih, Chief Executive Officer of ClavystBio said, “We believe that by connecting people, ideas and resources across geographies, we can launch and grow life sciences companies with global impact. ClavystBio and Node 1 were founded on the recognition that Singapore’s life sciences industry stands at a pivotal juncture, and we must move quickly to translate our scientific innovations and clinical excellence into real world human health solutions.”
Since 2022, ClavystBio has invested in 11 biotech, diagnostics and digital health companies, as well as 3 early-stage venture funds. It has also co-established 65LAB with Evotec and venture capital partners Lightstone Ventures, Leaps by Bayer and Polaris Partners to accelerate drug discovery and venture creation from academic and R&D institutions Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), the National University of Singapore and DUKE-NUS Medical School.
ClavystBio is guided by a Board of global life sciences industry leaders and distinguished Advisors. The Board is chaired by Dr Fidah Alsagoff, Joint Head of the Enterprise Development Group (Singapore) and Head of Life Sciences, Temasek; and includes Ken Ehlert, Dr. Ranga Krishnan, Steve Krognes, Dr Vicki Sato, and Amy Schulman. Dr Robert Langer and Dr Amy Abernethy serve as Advisors.
For more information on ClavystBio’s Investments, Board and Advisors, please refer to Annex A and B.
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For media enquiries, please contact:
ClavystBio
Patricia Lee [email protected]
+65 98577101
About ClavystBio
ClavystBio’s mission is to accelerate the commercialization of life sciences breakthroughs into health impact. We invest and partner with innovators, entrepreneurs and founders to launch and grow global companies in Singapore. We foster partnerships among academics, industry and investors, and convene life sciences communities at our collaborative innovation space Node 1. Together, we advance Singapore as a global life sciences translational hub.
ClavystBio was conceived by Temasek to be a venture builder and trusted partner to catalyze global health solutions from Singapore. Since 2022, ClavystBio has committed over US$220m to biotech, diagnostics and digital health companies, as well as early-stage VC funds.
For more information on ClavystBio, please visit www.clavystbio.com
Annex A
ClavystBio’s Portfolio Companies:
Allay Therapeutics
Allay Therapeutics is a US and Singapore-based biotech company pioneering ultra sustained analgesic products to transform post-surgical pain management and recuperation for patients and physicians.
The company’s proprietary technology platform combines validated non-opioid analgesics and biopolymers to create dissolvable candidates which provide pain relief within a targeted site over weeks.
Automera
Automera is an early-stage company focused on the development of a novel therapeutic approach via autophagy-based targeted protein degradation. Automera aims to leverage its unique understanding of autophagy, drug development capabilities, and access to quantum chemistry and generative AI-enabled insights to enhance its drug development programs. Automera’s AUTAC platform has broad potential across cancer and other disease areas, with oncology being the initial lead program. The company was founded by co-founders Dr. Michael Lazarou, Benjamin Zian-Loong Wang and Taiyang Zhang at Talo Labs Pte Ltd.
CoVBio
CoVBio is developing booster vaccines and therapeutics that are effective against variants of SARS-2 beta coronavirus.
The company’s booster pan-sarbecovirus vaccine will protect against future variants and future crossovers of related coronaviruses from animals to humans.
Engine Biosciences
Engine Biosciences is a Singapore and US-based company that develops precision medicine-based therapies for cancer and other diseases, using machine learning and large-scale experimental biological data generation and testing to decipher complex genetic networks.
The company’s proprietary technology platforms seek to integrate vast and differentiated human and disease datasets, machine learning, combinatorial genetics experiments, and in-house drug discovery to identify and develop promising drug targets for specific patient genetic and treatment contexts. Engine Biosciences’ technologies enable researchers and drug developers to feed and advance their therapeutics pipelines to treat unmet medical needs across a range of diseases.
Hummingbird Bioscience
Hummingbird Bioscience is a Singapore and US-based clinical-stage biotech company that develops precision therapies against hard-to-drug targets to improve treatment outcomes.
The company’s proprietary Rational Antibody Discovery platform uses data-driven computational and systems biology to discover and engineer precision therapies in oncology and autoimmune diseases.
Medisix Therapeutics
MediSix Therapeutics is a Singapore-based immune engineering company that develops novel cellular therapies to address T-cell malignancies and autoimmune diseases.
The company has developed a technology platform on genetic engineering that utilises proprietary immune engineering approaches to generate T-cells for effective immune cell therapies.
Nuevocor
Neuvocor is a Singapore-based biotech company developing target gene therapies to restore heart function through a deep understanding of fundamental mechanisms underlying genetic cardiac diseases.
The company is founded and advised by leaders in mechanobiology, cardiac disease and gene therapy, Its lead candidate treats the underlying biomechanical cause LMNA dilated cardiomyopathy, while its PrOSIA mechanobiology platform enables target discovery and validation for additional genetic cardiomyopathies.
OneBioMed
One BioMed is revolutionising health research and testing. The company's innovative Xceler8™ Solution offers fully automated, affordable and rapid nucleic acid extraction and purification from a wide array of biological samples for research and clinical applications. This disruptive platform, underpinned by a novel chemistry-based approach, enables high quality extraction of ultra-high molecular weight DNA and RNA for long and short read sequencing.
Paratus Sciences
Paratus Sciences is committed to improving human health and health security through an understanding of bat biology. They are focused on identifying and developing groundbreaking therapeutics for a myriad of diseases by developing the tools and methods necessary to understand the extreme and unique attributes of bat biology and apply these insights to identify and develop new therapies to address some of the most challenging health issues facing humankind. Founded by Paul Matsudaira, Richard Young, and Thomas Zwaka, Paratus is accelerating a drug discovery platform that leverages the power of cell biology, genomics, and informatics.
Sunbird Bird
Sunbird Bio is a biotechnology company developing proprietary protein-based diagnostic tests that provide unprecedented insights to enable earlier, more accurate diagnosis and treatment of neurological disorders and early-stage cancer. Sunbird’s innovative technologies uniquely detect the property and activity of proteins to empower researchers and clinicians with actionable information that is not available or accessible from current tests. Sunbird Bio’s unparalleled leadership in protein-based diagnostics positions the company to become a global leader in the field, addressing significant research and clinical gaps, and serving multiple, sizable markets.
Quilt
Quilt is a video game-based platform for mental health focused on bridging the engagement gap in healthcare. Through its innovative and beautifully-designed mobile arcade that brings together smartphone-based clinical digital biomarkers with the captivating power of games, Quilt aims to effortlessly and reliably engage, retain, monitor, reward, and drive healthy behaviour change in patients with mental and behavioural health-related conditions.
ClavystBio’s Fund Partners:
Accelerator Life Science Partners
Accelerator Life Science Partners (ALSP) is a US and Singapore-based early-stage life science accelerator and investment firm that creates and builds biotech companies based on innovative science.
The company catalyses the development and commercialisation of breakthrough biotech innovations by providing a holistic toolkit and leveraging its network and entrepreneurial expertise to accelerate the establishment and operation of early-stage biotech companies.
Lightstone Ventures
Lightstone Ventures is a global venture capital firm investing in early stage, therapeutic-oriented companies across the life science spectrum, as well as opportunistic late-stage companies.
Operating in Menlo Park, Boston, Ireland and Singapore, the company aims to empower founders to bring innovative therapeutics to patients.
Polaris Partners
Polaris Partners is an investment firm that aims to accelerate the commercial and therapeutic potential of disruptive healthcare and technology companies across the innovation cycle.
The company partners passionate entrepreneurs with transformational science, fostering the creation and growth of companies through an active investment model.
Annex B
Biography of ClavystBio’s Board of Directors:
Dr Fidah Alsagoff, Chairman
Dr Fidah Alsagoff is Joint Head of the Enterprise Development Group (Singapore) and Head of Life Sciences at Temasek.
He was previously a Partner at Innosight Ventures Pte Ltd and prior to that, was Chief Executive Officer of Ministry of Health Holdings. Fidah’s career also includes nearly a decade in social entrepreneurship where he established several programmes and enterprises catering to unmet healthcare needs of patients. The latest among these was the Singapore Cord Blood Bank.
Fidah graduated from the National University of Singapore with a Bachelors of MedicineSurgery, and later with a Masters of Medicine in Public Health. He attended INSEAD on a Lee Kuan Yew Scholarship for post-graduate studies, and subsequently graduated with an Executive MBA (with distinction). As valedictorian of his EMBA class, he was awarded the Claude Janssen Prize.
Fidah currently serves on the Board of Trustees of the Singapore University of Technology and Design, and on the Governing Board of the Duke-NUS Medical School.
Ken Ehlert, Independent Director
Ken Ehlert spent the early years of his career working across the industries of agriculture, finance, and retail, before finding a home in healthcare. Since then, he has focused on using data, analytics, and a longitudinal understanding of disease to build products and businesses that improve the healthcare system. This career spans three decades and consists of numerous leadership positions and entrepreneurial endeavors, including serving as UnitedHealth Group’s Chief Scientific Officer. Ken has founded and successfully exited several companies, including All Savers—a novel insurance product for small businesses that brings the advantages of large groups, Motion—the first payfor-healthy-behaviors insurance program that used biosensors, Level2—the first insurance plan that combines disease-specific interventions with benefit design, and Savvysherpa—a healthcare R&D firm focused at the intersection of math, clinical science, and human connection.
Today, Ken is most passionate about the linkage between cognition, behavior, biology, and chronic diseases. His efforts are aimed at exploring this linkage and harnessing it to improve health and access to healthcare, especially for those who are socio-economically challenged
Dr Ranga Krishnan, Independent Director
Dr Ranga Krishnan is Senior Advisor to the Rush University System for Health in Chicago, and Chairman of the National Medical Research Council (NMRC) in Singapore.
He was previously Dean of Rush Medical College, and Chief Executive Officer of the Rush University System for Health. Ranga advanced the innovation of care delivery by organising providers around patients, diseases and conditions rather than by department or division to enable greater multidisciplinary collaboration. He also remodelled Rush’s innovation and technology strategy, including the Innovation and Technology Transfer Office which manages Rush’s intellectual properties.
Prior to Rush, Ranga was Dean of Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School Singapore, where he developed a teaching method called Team LEAD (Learn, Engage, Apply, Develop) which has since been adopted by other universities and high schools.
Steve Krognes, Independent Director
Steve Krognes is a professional board member in the biotech and life science sector. He currently serves as a Director at Denali Therapeutics, Guardant Health, Gritstone bio and argenx, all publicly listed companies, and previously served on the boards of Corvus Pharmaceuticals, RLS Global AB and Tessa Therapeutics.
Previously, Steve worked 7 years as CFO of Denali Therapeutics, 6 years as CFO of Genentech and 6 years as global head of M&A at Roche. At Denali, Steve built the finance, IT and site organizations, and led the company’s IPO and capital raising efforts. At Genentech, Steve led the integration of InterMune as well as the integration of Roche and Genentech, chaired the Genentech Access to Care Foundation and represented Genentech on the Board and Executive Committee of the California Life Science Association. At Roche, under Steve’s leadership, the M&A team executed more than 30 transactions worldwide, and he personally led the acquisition of and subsequent integration of Genentech.
Prior to that, Steve worked as an investment banker at Goldman Sachs, a management consultant at McKinsey, and as a venture capitalist in Scandinavia. Steve holds an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School, a B.S. in Economics from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Steve grew up in Norway and is a second lieutenant in the Royal Norwegian Air Force, and speaks Norwegian, French, and conversational German. Steve lives in Cannes (France) and San Francisco (USA) with his family.
Dr Vicki Sato, Independent Director
Dr Vicki Sato is a Venture Partner at ARCH Venture Partners, Chairman of Vir Biotechnology and Denali Therapeutics, and a business advisor to several enterprises in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries.
Vicki was previously a Professor of Management Practice at Harvard Business School and a Professor of the Practice, Molecular and Cell Biology, for Harvard’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences. Prior to that, Vicki spent many years in the industry, including most recently as President of Vertex Pharmaceuticals.
Vicki is a member of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) in the United States,and was the inaugural Co-Chair of the Advisory Council for the NYC LifeScience Initiative to establish New York City as a global leader in life sciences.
Amy Schulman, Independent Director
Amy Schulman is a managing partner in Polaris Partners’ New York office and focuses on investments in healthcare companies. She also manages the Polaris Innovation Fund which was formed in 2017.
Prior to Polaris, Amy held various roles at Pfizer including President of Pfizer Consumer Healthcare, President of Pfizer Nutrition where she was instrumental in its sale to Nestle in 2012, and General Counsel of Pfizer.
Amy currently serves as Executive Chair of SQZ Biotech, and as a director of Alnylam Pharmaceuticals and Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City.
Biography of ClavystBio’s Advisors:
Dr Amy Abernethy, Advisor
Dr. Amy Abernethy is President of Product Development and Chief Medical Officer at Verily, where she leads teams in the development and delivery of products that bridge the gap between clinical research and care. She was most recently Principal Deputy Commissioner of Food and Drugs of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the agency’s acting Chief Information Officer.
Prior to her role at the FDA, Dr. Abernethy was Chief Medical Officer and Senior Vice President of Oncology of Flatiron Health. Before joining Flatiron, she was Professor of Medicine at Duke University School of Medicine and directed the Center for Learning Health Care in the Duke Clinical Research Institute and Duke Cancer Care Research Program in the Duke Cancer Institute.
Dr Abernethy is a haematologist/ oncologist and palliative medicine physician who has authored more than 500 publications. She holds a BA in Biochemistry from the University of Pennsylvania, an MD from Duke University School of Medicine, and a PhD in Evidence Based Medicine and Informatics from Flinders University in Australia.
Dr Robert Langer, Advisor
Dr Robert Langer is one of 9 Institute Professors at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT); being an Institute Professor is the highest honor that can be awarded to a faculty member. He has written over 1,500 articles, which have been cited over 401,000 times; his h-index of 315 is the highest of any engineer in history and the 2nd highest of any
individual in any field. His patents have licensed or sublicensed to over 400 companies, and he is a cofounder of a number of companies including Moderna.
Dr Langer served as Chairman of the FDA’s Science Board (its highest advisory board) from 1999-2002. His over 220 awards include both the United States National Medal of Science and the United States National Medal of Technology and Innovation (he is one of 3 living individuals to have received both these honors), the Charles Stark Draper Prize (often called the Engineering Nobel Prize), Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering, Albany Medical Center Prize, Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences, Kyoto Prize, Wolf Prize for Chemistry, Millennium Technology Prize, Priestley Medal (highest award of the American Chemical Society), Gairdner Prize, Hoover Medal, Dreyfus Prize in Chemical Sciences, BBVA Frontiers of Knowledge Award in Biomedicine, and the Balzan Prize. He holds 41 honorary doctorates, including Harvard, Yale, Columbia, and Northwestern, and has been elected to the National Academy of Medicine, the National Academy of Engineering, the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Inventors.
