Warping the VC model

While the buzz at last week's 30th Annual JPMorgan Healthcare Conference centered on the $2.5 billion takeout of Inhibitex Inc. (NASDAQ:INHX) by Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMS), Sanofi CEO Christopher Viehbacher was working to focus investors on an early stage investment in Warp Drive Bio LLC.

Warp Drive is using genomics to identify natural drug products in the sequence of microbes, including products that target pathways previously considered "undruggable." The biotech was launched by Third Rock Ventures and Sanofi with up to $125 million in funding...