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Law360 (April 2, 2020, 2:28 PM EDT) -- A venture capital firm that creates and spins out technology and life sciences companies said Thursday it had closed on its latest $1.1 billion fund to help focus on issues such as population health and artificial intelligence.
Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Flagship Pioneering said it closed on its seventh such capital raise for its human health and sustainability companies. The funds will be used to support the groups that are spun out from Flagship as they start growing, according to a statement.
Life sciences companies are seen by some as a bright spot for investment amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Some experts have said that as many early stage biotechnology companies have yet to generate revenue and build operations, that could make them less susceptible to coronavirus-related fallout.
Noubar Afeyan, founder and CEO of Flagship, said the company's strategy moving forward will be to focus on three areas, its Pioneering Medicines platform designed to develop ideas from the firm's existing companies, more attention to artificial intelligence and machine learning, and an initiative to create products focused on population health to treat conditions before they get worse.
"The current COVID-19 crisis deeply underscores the essential need for a comprehensive health security initiative to complement our current health care system," he said.
In March, Flagship-founded Moderna Inc. worked with scientists from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases to begin the first clinical trial for a vaccine for the novel coronavirus.
Founded in 2000, Flagship said it has more than $4.4 billion in capital commitments. Last year, the firm launched several new companies, and two of its previously launched groups completed their initial public offerings.
In February 2019, Kaleido Biosciences Inc. priced a $75 million IPO to help it to fund drug programs targeting hyperammonemia, a metabolic condition characterized by elevated ammonia levels in the blood.
In May, Axcella Health Inc. brought in at least $71 million to assist its development of amino acid-based therapies to treat liver disease and more.
A spokesperson for Flagship did not immediately respond to a request for comment, and counsel information was not available.
--Additional reporting by Tom Zanki. Editing by Orlando Lorenzo.
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