January 13, 2021 – Pfizer Inc. (New York, NY) announced that during the second half of 2020 it invested a total of $120 million in four clinical-stage biotech companies as part of the Pfizer Breakthrough Growth Initiative (PBGI).
Through PBGI, Pfizer says it is investing up to $500 million in biotechnology companies, providing funding and access to Pfizer’s scientific expertise to help ensure the continuity of promising clinical development programs of potential future strategic interest to Pfizer.
- $10 million in ESSA Pharma (Vancouver, BC, Canada), a clinical-stage pharmaceutical company focused on developing novel and proprietary therapies for the treatment of patients with prostate cancer.
- $25 million in Trillium Therapeutics (Cambridge, MA), a clinical-stage immuno-oncology company focused on developing innovative therapies for the treatment of cancer.
- $25 million in Vedanta Biosciences (Cambridge, MA), a privately held clinical-stage company focused on developing a new category of therapies for immune-mediated diseases based on rationally defined consortia of human microbiome-derived bacteria.
- $60 million in Homology Medicines (Bedford, MA), a clinical-stage genetic medicines company focused on treatments for rare genetic diseases with significant unmet medical needs.
Established in June 2020, the Pfizer Breakthrough Growth Initiative focuses on non-controlling equity investments primarily in public companies with small- to medium-sized market capitalizations and mature private companies that are developing clinical-stage assets aligned with Pfizer’s core areas of focus: Internal Medicine, Inflammation & Immunology, Oncology, Rare Disease, Vaccines, and Hospital.