American Cancer Society's Impact Venture Capital Arm and Third Rock Ventures to Collaborate to Drive Innovation in Oncology

Collaboration Allows BrightEdge to Invest in Oncology-Focused Biotechnology Companies Launched by Third Rock Ventures

BOSTON, July 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- BrightEdge LLC (BrightEdge), the American Cancer Society's (ACS) impact venture capital arm, today announced a novel collaboration with Third Rock Ventures, LLC (TRV), a leading healthcare venture capital firm. The relationship connects a leading venture capital firm with a mission-driven strategic investment partner at the earliest stages of oncology company formation to broaden the impact of innovative oncology-focused startups.

Under the collaboration BrightEdge will have the opportunity to participate in the Series A and follow-on financing rounds of oncology-focused companies launched by TRV. BrightEdge, in partnership with ACS, will leverage its knowledge networks and research communities to deepen the impact of investments made in connection with the TRV-BrightEdge collaboration. TRV will also provide technical know-how and other resources to support the education of scientific founders and entrepreneurs in the ACS ecosystem.

"This unique relationship opens up a whole new realm of possibilities in patient-centric innovation and investing as we leverage our combined expertise to build companies in areas of greatest need and impact," said Alice Pomponio, BrightEdge's managing director. "This partnership touches today's patients by ensuring ACS can sustain life-saving patient services while paving the way for tomorrow's innovative solutions. We fully expect to replicate this model with other mission-aligned VC firms to deepen our impact and accelerate our patient-centric mission in reducing cancer mortality, ending pain and suffering, and advancing health equity."  

By creating the potential for BrightEdge to generate returns to fund ACS research and services, TRV will expand its ability to positively impact the lives of patients and their families living with cancer and accelerate the pace of innovation in early and translational research in oncology.

"At TRV we work with a singular mission – to bring biomedical innovation to patients living with significant unmet medical needs. This relationship with BrightEdge strengthens our impact across the oncology ecosystem by helping to facilitate ACS programs and initiatives which play critical roles in the patient care continuum," said Reid Huber, Ph.D., partner at TRV. "As part of BrightEdge's community of investors, TRV will also gain access to ACS' programmatic efforts to foster scientific innovation and patient support, further expanding our efforts to push the boundaries of science and technology and connecting us to one of the key patient communities we serve."

Since 2007 TRV has built a portfolio of 60 life sciences companies working on delivering breakthroughs to patients. In June, the firm announced the closing of its $1.1 billion sixth fund, which will continue Third Rock's core strategy to discover, launch and build new groundbreaking companies.

The American Cancer Society created BrightEdge in 2019 to diversify its income base, build financial resilience and accelerate its mission through entrepreneurial approaches. BrightEdge invests in for-profit, early-stage companies developing cancer-focused therapeutics, diagnostics, devices and technologies. As an evergreen fund, investment gains are fully reinvested in the fund's portfolio companies and ACS research and programs.

Additionally, BrightEdge invests in companies working on solutions across the cancer patient-care continuum and product value chain -- from prevention and disease awareness and cutting-edge treatments, diagnostics, and solutions to patient access. Since 2019, BrightEdge has made 15 mission-aligned investments, two of which have gone public. BrightEdge is stage-agnostic but particularly active in Seed and Series A funding rounds.

BrightEdge oversees a fund with a net asset value of $77 million that's on track to reach the $100 million-mark next year, fueled by "investment donations" and fund returns. The fund invests alongside the country's most prominent venture capital firms – serving as a value-add syndicate partner to validate the unmet need and deepen impact through market awareness and patient-centric innovation capabilities.

BrightEdge is the American Cancer Society's donor-funded impact investment arm that invests in for-profit companies developing therapeutics, diagnostics, medical devices, and technologies to eradicate cancer. It invests alongside top-tier life sciences and healthcare investors with a goal of generating financial returns and patient impact. For more information and a copy of the fund's 2021 report, visit www.brightedgefund.org.

The American Cancer Society is on a mission to free the world from cancer and to ensure that everybody has a fair and just opportunity to prevent, find, treat, and survive cancer. The Society invests in lifesaving research, provide 24/7 information and support, and work to ensure that individuals in every community have access to cancer prevention, detection, and treatment. For more information, visit www.cancer.org.

SOURCE American Cancer Society