Scientist.com Raises $24M to Expand Next Generation Pharmaceutical Outsourcing Marketplace

SAN DIEGO, APRIL 26, 2017 (BUSINESS WIRE) Scientist, the world's largest marketplace for outsourced research in pharma, announced today that it raised $24M in an equity financing co-led by Leerink Transformation Partners (LTP) and 5AM Ventures. 

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Heritage Provider network and existing investors Bootstrap Ventures and Jack Giarraputo also participated.  The funding will help Scientist expand its revolutionary pharmaceutical outsourcing marketplace, which has been developed by industry experts.

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The ongoing need and opportunity to improve pharmaceutical R&D efficiency is well documented. Last year marked a six-year low for new drug approvals; the industry spent $150 billion on R&D in 2016 but produced only 22 new medicines – well below the five-year average (2012-2016) of 29. The cost of bringing a single new drug to market has now reached as much as $7 billion, and profit margins have declined precipitously over the last 20 years.

“It is too expensive and time-consuming to bring new drugs to market,” said Jared Kesselheim, Managing Partner of LTP. “The outsourcing platform built by Scientist has enabled pharmaceutical companies to run drug programs in less time and at a fraction of today’s cost. We expect the marketplace to continue to be a game-changer for pharmaceutical outsourcing, creating real efficiency for both the pharma companies and the research community.”

Scientist (formerly Assay Depot) connects buyers and sellers of pharmaceutical services and streamlines the entire ‘source-to-settle’ process.  The company currently has partnerships with many large pharmaceutical companies, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and small and mid-sized biotechnology companies. Thousands of suppliers have already joined the Scientist network. 

“We have fundamentally changed the way research and development is conducted,” said Kevin Lustig, PhD, President and CEO of Scientist.  Pharmaceutical companies can create and order any service on-demand in a customized manner that meets their specific needs.  With the current pace of innovation occurring within pharmaceutical research, scientists are now limited only by their imagination in the experiments they can carry out. With this investment and a seasoned team of industry experts on board supporting our mission, including knowledgeable concierge scientists, Scientist will continue to disrupt pharma research.”

Scientist is extending the benefits of its platform to smaller, early-stage biopharmaceutical companies. An increasing number of new biotech start-up companies are outsourcing much or all the laboratory tests, services and studies needed to run a complex, multi-year drug discovery and development program.  The Scientist marketplace located at app.scientist.com enables these small “virtual companies” to run an entire drug program from concept to clinic without requiring physical access to a laboratory.

“Scientist is pioneering a dramatically more efficient approach to drug research, enabling both large and small biopharmaceutical companies,” stated Paul Stone, 5AM Partner.  “By solving the primary challenges currently facing the drug industry - how to effectively develop more drugs while reducing costs - the company has created a game-changing platform for drug research.”   

About Leerink Transformation Partners (LTP)

LTP invests in privately-held innovative companies in the healthcare technology and services sectors. The firm was founded in 2015 by Todd Cozzens and Jared Kesselheim, M.D.  Todd, most recently at Sequoia Capital, had a long operating career as CEO of Picis and as a senior executive at UnitedHealth Group/Optum.  Jared, most recently at Bain Capital Ventures, was formerly a clinician at Massachusetts General Hospital.  LTP applies its decades of operational and clinical experience and its extensive industry contacts to help founders and CEOs build important businesses. Founders today want more than just money and nowhere is this more apparent than in the complex, insular and dynamic healthcare market. Visit www.LTPequity.com to learn more. 

About 5AM Ventures

Founded in 2002, 5AM Ventures actively invests in next-generation life science companies.  With ~$1 billion under management, 5AM has invested in over 60 companies and successful exits include DVS Sciences (acquired by Fluidigm), Envoy Therapeutics (acquired by Takeda), Flexion Therapeutics (Nasdaq: FLXN), Ikaria (acquired by Mallinckrodt), Ilypsa (acquired by Amgen), Incline Therapeutics (acquired by The Medicines Company), Marcadia Biotech (acquired by Roche), Novira Therapeutics (acquired by J&J), Pearl Therapeutics (acquired by AstraZeneca) and Relypsa (Nasdaq: RLYP, acquired by Galenica). Visit www.5amventures.com to learn more.

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