BioCentury
ARTICLE | Finance

A virtual first

Celiac play Sitari is first to emerge from Avalon, GSK deal

November 25, 2013 8:00 AM UTC

Sitari Pharmaceuticals Corp. is the first of what partners Avalon Ventures and GlaxoSmithKline plc (LSE:GSK; NYSE:GSK) expect will be several virtual newcos formed over the next year under an April deal designed to populate GSK's pipeline with programs translated from early stage academic projects.

The celiac disease company received $10 million in series A funding last week. It is developing small molecule inhibitors of transglutaminase 2 (TGM2; TG2). The enzyme catalyzes a reaction with gluten in the gut that drives the pathogenic autoimmune response underlying celiac...