Vida launches with $295M

Life sciences investment firm Vida Ventures debuted on Tuesday with $295 million under management. The firm participated in a $300 million series A round that newly launched Allogene Therapeutics Inc. (South San Francisco, Calif.) announced on Tuesday. Allogene has rights from Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) to a portfolio of off-the-shelf allogeneic CAR T products discovered by Cellectis S.A. (Euronext:ALCLS; NASDAQ:CLLS) (see BioCentury Extra, April 3).

Vida co-founder and Managing Director Arjun Goyal told BioCentury the company aims to identify genetically validated targets, biomarker-led clinical development and spaces where a small Phase Ib trial can be "particularly instructive."...