Third Rock fibrosis play debuts with $45M

Third Rock Ventures launched fibrosis company Pliant Therapeutics Inc. (Redwood City, Calif.) with a $45 million series A round. The biotech is developing a small molecule inhibitor of integrin alpha(V)beta(1) ( CD51/CD29) to treat fibrotic diseases, with an initial focus on idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF).

Pliant's four founders are professors at the University of California San Francisco. They include Dean Sheppard, Bill DeGrado, Hal Chapman and Bradley Backes. The newco's CEO is Bernard Coulie, former CEO and CMO at ActoGeniX N.V., and its chairman is Perry Karsen, retired CEO of the Celgene Cellular Therapeutics subsidiary of Celgene Corp. (NASDAQ:CELG). ...