Spinning out value

Platform companies are notorious for requiring long exit timelines and large amounts of front end capital. Atlas Venture and fellow investors are hoping that spinning out assets developed at bispecific mAb play F-star GmbH can provide greater financial flexibility while allowing earlier exits from specific development programs.

Last week, F-star said it is spinning out its 23 cancer programs into a virtual entity called F-star Alpha Ltd. The newco raised €9.4 million ($12.9 million) from existing F-star investors Atlas Venture, Aescap Venture, TVM Capital, SR One, MP Healthcare Venture Management and MS Ventures...