RiverVest Venture Partners

Did you know that one of the most promising cellular therapies for cancer was invented in St. Louis and is now in pivotal clinical trials? Join me on Thursday, April 17th, at 4:30 PM for Innovators Hour at BioGenerator for a conversation with Matthew Cooper, PhD, Co-Founder & Chief Scientific Officer of Wugen. 🔗 RSVP: https://lnkd.in/gypBUk4c CAR-T (chimeric antigen receptor) therapies are changing the possibilities for previously incurable cancers like refractory T cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia/ Lymphoma. Wugen, a WashU start-up co-founded by Dr. Matt Cooper and backed by BioGenerator, has created “off-the-shelf” (allogeneic) T-cells. These cells have a chimeric receptor to target the cancer cells and have been gene edited twice by CRISPR-cas9 to remove both CD7 and the T-cell receptor which prevents both T-cell killing of healthy T-cells and graft versus host attack. This allows the therapeutic T-cells to survive and target only the malignant T-cells for destruction. The cellular therapy, WU-CART-007, showed very promising results in phase 1/2 clinical trials and enrollment has begun in the pivotal phase 2 study. Hear the story of how Matt went from an idea in 2018 to building a team to raising over $200 million in venture capital to scaling of T-cell manufacturing and entering a pivotal clinical trial in 2025. 📅 Thursday, April 17 📍 BioSTL Building | 4340 Duncan Ave., Cortex District 🕠 Doors open at 4:30 PM | Discussion begins at 5:00 PM | Networking until 6:30 PM 🔗 RSVP: https://lnkd.in/gypBUk4c Matthew Cooper, Wugen, John DiPersio, Kumar Srinivasan, John McKearn, Karen Gheesling Mullis, Ph.D., Mark Lewis BioSTL, Niall O'Donnell, Drew Dennison, BioGenerator Ventures, RiverVest Venture Partners, Washington University in St. Louis Office of Technology Management (Tech Transfer), Siteman Cancer Center, Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Lightchain Capital LLC, Cortex Innovation District

Exciting milestone news from Bluejay Therapeutics! The first patient has been dosed in its AZURE-1 global pivotal clinical trial evaluating brelovitug (BJT-778) for the treatment of chronic hepatitis D (#CHD). The need is urgent, and the company plans to recruit and complete this trial as rapidly as possible. Please click below to read the full release.  #LiverDisease #Hepatitis #RareDisease Keting Chu Pascal Krotee, Ph.D.

Our pivotal Phase 2 T-RRex trial of WU-CART-007 is officially underway! With previous data showing a composite complete remission rate of 73% and 91% overall response rate, WU-CART-007 has the potential to redefine care for patients with relapsed or refractory T-ALL/LBL.   Stay tuned as we continue our work to deliver a transformative off-the-shelf CAR-T therapy. More details here: https://bit.ly/4inhOBk

Congratulations to the Wugen team on this important milestone. RiverVest is optimistic about WU-CART-007's potential to fill a longstanding treatment gap for patients with relapsed or refractory T-ALL/LBL.

Congrats to VentureMed Inc. as the company prepares to accelerate the commercialization of its FLEX Vessel Prep™ System for arteriovenous (AV) access and peripheral arterial disease (PAD) interventions.   

On Rare Disease Day 2025, RiverVest applauds the scientists and leaders who dedicate themselves to transforming promising concepts into transformational therapies on behalf of 300 million people worldwide suffering from rare (aka #orphan) diseases. Right now, only 5% of the more than 7,000 identified rare diseases have an FDA-approved treatment. Drug research and development is universally complex, time-intensive, and expensive — especially when patient populations are relatively small; by definition, a rare disease affects fewer than 200,000 people at any given time. Rare disease has long been an investment focus for RiverVest, and we are proud to support the dedicated teams and important work at the following biopharma companies: Atalanta Therapeutics — developing treatments for intractable diseases of the central nervous system (#Huntington’s disease, genetic #epilepsy, and others) using RNA interference. Atalanta’s unique platform of divalent small interfering RNA (di-siRNA) enables durable, selective gene silencing throughout the brain and spinal cord. Avalyn Pharma — developing inhaled medicines to treat rare respiratory diseases, including pulmonary fibrosis and other interstitial lung diseases (#ILDs). Bluejay Therapeutics — developing potentially life-changing therapeutics for serious viral and liver diseases. The company is currently investigating brelovitug (BJT-778) for the treatment of chronic hepatitis D (#CHD) and chronic hepatitis B (#CHB) virus infections as well as advancing several innovative programs with the goal of developing a combination regimen to achieve a functional cure for chronic #hepatitis B. Glycomine Inc. — developing novel drugs for serious rare disorders of metabolism and protein misfolding for which no other therapeutic options exist. The company's approach is to use replacement therapies – substrates, enzymes, or proteins – and to target those molecules to clinically relevant cellular compartments. OxaluRx — a preclinical biopharmaceutical company developing a small molecule, oral therapy to treat primary #hyperoxaluria, a rare orphan metabolic disease. Sparrow Pharmaceuticals, Inc. – developing novel, targeted therapies to address unmet needs in both #endocrinology and rheumatology, including endogenous Cushing’s syndrome #EnCS, autonomous cortisol secretion #ACS and polymyalgia rheumatica #PMR. Wugen — developing the next generation of off-the-shelf CAR-T and memory natural killer (NK) cell therapies for cancer, including relapsed or refractory (R/R) T cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia/ Lymphoma (T-ALL/LBL) — rare subtypes of acute lymphoblastic #leukemia (ALL) and lymphoblastic #lymphoma (LBL). The convergence of science and determination is so powerful. Niall O'Donnell John McKearn Pascal Krotee, Ph.D. Nafise Masoumi Isaac Zike Ph.D. Keting Chu Alicia Secor Kumar Srinivasan Matthew Cooper Steven Axon Robert Jacks David A. Katz Lyn Baranowski Douglas Carlson Howard M. Lazarus, MD Walter Smith

Thanks to RiverVest Venture Partners managing director Karen Spilizewski for providing her expertise over the weekend as a judge in this collegiate venture capital competition and congratulations to the students at Washington University in St. Louis for winning it!

Heart Failure Awareness Week 💔 is an opportunity to raise awareness about the risk factors of heart failure, prevention methods, available treatment options, and best practices for living with heart failure.   HF is a deadly condition that has no cure. And while lifestyle modifications and medicines are helping millions of HF patients survive and thrive, many more remain symptomatic despite guideline-directed medical therapy (#GDMT).   In honor of #HFWeek2025, RiverVest Venture Partners is pleased to highlight a novel investigational device designed to address the unmet needs of HF patients for whom other treatment options have been ineffective. We are hopeful that Alleviant Medical’s technology may deliver the relief these patients so desperately seek.   Heart Failure Society of America #HFSA #HFAW #HeartFailureAwareness #CHF #congestiveheartfailure #chronicheartfailure #pivotaltrial #interatrialshunt #interventionalcardiology #structuralheart #atrialshunt #MyHFStory2025   Gilde Healthcare Omega Funds S3 Ventures Vensana Capital Longview Ventures Gilmartin Capital LLC TMC Venture Fund Broadview Ventures Inc ShangBay Capital Adam Berman Mary Byron Mark Perkins Avni Patel Jacob Kriegel, MD Jay Schmelter Andrew Kleiboeker Karen Spilizewski Derek Rapp Pascal Krotee, Ph.D. Nafise Masoumi Please click on the image to read the article.👇👇👇

RiverVest Venture Partners is grateful for the robust innovation community in the Midwest and pleased that Jeff Seitz is providing expertise in the judging of applications and support of presenters at InvestMidwest’s conference being held May 6-7, 2025 in St. Louis.

On #WorldCancer Day 2025, RiverVest celebrates the extraordinary progress being made in addressing #cancer — the second-leading cause of death globally. We have proudly supported science, strategy, and innovation in oncology for more than two decades, and that continues through our work with five active early-stage #biopharmaceutical companies:   Bonum Therapeutics - regulated, context-dependent drugs exclusively active within the tumor microenvironment   OncoResponse - monoclonal antibodies focused on removing the brakes on immune cells in the tumor microenvironment   Wugen - gene editing and CAR-T cell technology enabling “off-the-shelf” therapies that would avoid rejection by the recipient   Xilio Therapeutics, Inc. - tumor-activated molecules designed to optimize their therapeutic index and localize anti-tumor activity   And a preclinical-stage stealth company Feeling optimistic about the future of cancer care, but we all have work to do!   #WorldCancerDay #Oncology #CancerDrugs #LifeSciencesVC #biopharma