Franklin Berger

iTherX is a clinical stage pharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of innovative treatments for Hepatitis C. This is a disease that affects almost 3% of the world's population, and is the major cause of chronic liver disease, cirrhosis, liver failure and primary liver cancer. Currently there is only a single mode of therapy and less than 5% of patients can be successfully treated. The company continues to carry out focused research in their areas of expertise to provide sustainability of product pipelines. In an era of managed care and increased regulatory scrutiny, it is easy to yield to the temptation of producing 'me too drugs'. However, they think that innovation in the development of pharmaceutical products is important because it is the only way to improve the outcomes for patients. As such, they also think that innovation can ensure the financial returns that investors in health care deserve for the risks that they take. Their innovative approach is evident in their pipeline of Hepatitis C drug candidates. As new and better treatments are being sought, most companies involved in this effort are targeting the enzymes responsible for viral replication: polymerases and proteases. While these are important targets, there is a great deal of duplication of effort in these initiatives. At iTherX, they are pioneering the development of a novel class of HCV antivirals by targeting the steps involved in the entry of the hepatitis C virus into liver cells. Their Host Cell Receptor Target Program engenders small molecule compounds that target a liver cell membrane protein, SR-B1, which recognize and dock the virus. Their lead compound, ITX5061, has extensive safety data in over 250 patients, and shows picomolar potency in inhibiting HCV infection in vitro. They plan to initiate a Phase 2a clinical trial in HCV patients in Q2 of 2009. They have also used medicinal chemistry to develop back-up compounds for this program, and a clinical candidate has been selected for development. Another innovative program is novel cell receptor, which develops antagonists (including biologics) against a novel liver cell membrane protein required for infectivity of the virus.

VaxGen, Inc. is a biopharmaceutical company, owns a state-of-the-art biopharmaceutical manufacturing facility that can be used to make cell culture or microbial biologic products. The company has ended all product development activities and sold or otherwise terminated its drug development programs. It is seeking to maximize the value of its remaining tangible and intangible assets through a transaction or series of transactions, including the sale of the manufacturing facility. The company was founded on November 01, 1995 and is headquartered in South San Francisco, CA.

Seagen Inc. is a biotechnology company, which engages in the development and commercialization of targeted therapies for the treatment of cancer. It also focuses on the advancement of therapies for solid tumors and blood-related cancers. Its products include Adcetris, Padcev, Tivdak, and Tukysa. The company was founded by Clay B. Siegall and H. Perry Fell on July 15, 1997 and is headquartered in Bothell, WA.

BELLUS Health, Inc. is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing novel therapeutics for the treatment of cough hypersensitivity and other hypersensitization disorders. Its product BLU-5937, is being developed for the treatment of chronic cough and chronic pruritus, or chronic itch. The company was founded on June 17, 1993 and is headquartered in Laval, Canada.

Isotechnika, Inc. operates as an international biopharmaceutical company. The firm discovers and develops immunosuppressive therapeutic drugs for treatment of autoimmune diseases and for use in the prevention of organ rejection in transplantation. The company is headquartered in Edmonton, Canada.

JPMorgan Securities LLC (JPMS) is a securities brokerage firm headquartered in New York City. The firm was founded in 1985 and is a subsidiary of JPMorgan Broker-Dealer Holdings, Inc., ultimately held by JPMorgan Chase & Co., Inc. (NYSE: JPM). JPMS provides research on fixed income, credit, derivatives, emerging markets, foreign exchange, structured finance, technical analysis and bond indices. Their equity analysts cover equities throughout North America, EMEA, Asia/Pacific and the emerging markets. The firm's fixed income team formulates trading and portfolio recommendations for investors in global bonds and other fixed-income markets based on valuations, analytics and market dynamics.

Five Prime Therapeutics, Inc. is a clinical-stage biotechnology company, which engages in the discovery and development of novel protein therapeutics. Its product candidates includes, Cabiralizumab (FPA008), Bemarituzumab (FPA144), and FPA150. The FPA008 is an antibody that inhibits colony stimulating factor-1, or CSF1, receptor, or CSF1R, that are developing in rheumatoid arthritis and plan to clinically develop in pigmented villonodular synovitis, or PVNS, and in combination with nivolumab in multiple cancers. The FPA144 is an antibody that inhibits fibroblast growth factor receptor 2b, or FGFR2b, that are developing to treat patients with gastric cancer. The FPA150 is a CD8 T cell checkpoint which targets B7-H4 that is developing as a monotherapy in multiple cancers. The company was founded by Lewis T. Williams in December 2001 and is headquartered in South San Francisco, C.

Tocagen, Inc. is a clinical-stage, cancer-selective gene therapy company, which engages in the development of product candidates designed to activate a patient's immune system against their own cancer. It is in the business of discovery, development, and commercialization of products for the treatment of cancer. The company was founded by Thomas E. Darcy, Harry E. Gruber, Douglas J. Jolly, and Dennis N. Berman in August 2007 and is headquartered San Diego, CA.

Asterias Biotherapeutics, Inc. is a clinical-stage biotechnology company, which focuses on developing and commercializing novel therapies in the emerging fields of cell therapy and regenerative medicine. Its product candidates include AST-OPC1, trial for spinal cord injuries; AST-VAC1, a patient specific cancer immunotherapy focused on acute myeloid leukemia; and AST-VAC2, a non-patient-specific cancer immunotherapy for non-small cell lung cancer. The company was founded on September 24, 2012 and is headquartered in Fremont, CA.

Alzheon, Inc. engages in the provision of medical development. It specializes in treatment for brain health, memory, and aging. It offers ALZ-801, an oral small molecule inhibitor of amyloid formation and neurotoxicity with potential to be a therapy for a genetically defined population of patients with or at high risk for Alzheimer's disease and other neurodegenerative disorders. The company was founded by Martin Tolar in June 2013 and is headquartered in Framingham, MA.

Sectoral Asset Management, Inc. (Sectoral) is an investment management firm headquartered in Montréal, Canada. The firm was founded in 2000 by Jérôme G. Pfund and Michael J. Sjöström. They are a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sectoral Asset Management Holding Ltd. in Hong Kong. Sectoral manages public and private equity healthcare strategies for investors around the world. Their clients include sovereign wealth funds, private banks, and family offices. In addition, they have long-standing sub-advisory relationships with institutional investors in Europe and Asia.

ViroChem Pharma, Inc. provides antiviral drug research and development services. The company provides R&D services on HIV/AIDS and hepatitis C. It was founded on April 8, 2004 and is headquartered in Laval, Canada.

Thallion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is a biotechnology company focused on developing new pharmaceutical products in the areas of infectious disease and oncology. Its products are Shigamabs, a dual antibody product for the treatment of Shigatoxin-producing E. coli bacterial infections and TLN-4601, a proprietary first in class small molecule with potential efficacy in multiple oncology indications. The company was founded in January 1998 and is headquartered in Dorval, Canada.

CellCarta Biosciences, Inc. develops proteomics and immune monitoring services. The firm offers integrated platforms in proteomics and immune monitoring services to the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry. Its services include biomarker discovery, cell engine software, cellular enumeration, clinical laboratory services, functional profiling, host cell proteins detection, phenotyping characterization and receptor occupancy. The company was founded by Martin LeBlanc in 2000 and is headquartered in Montréal, Canada.

Proteostasis Therapeutics, Inc. operates as a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company. It engages in the discovery and development of novel therapeutics to treat cystic fibrosis (CF) and other diseases caused by an imbalance in the proteostasis network. The company was founded by William Balch, Jeffery W. Kelly, Andrew Dillin, Richard I. Morimoto, Alfred Lewis Goldberg, Daniel Finley, Christopher T. Walsh, and Randall W. King in 2006 and is headquartered in Boston, MA.

The Genetics Company is a privately held drug discovery and development company active in the areas of cancer and neurodegenerative diseases. The company has identified small molecule inhibitors of two proprietary targets with in the Wnt-pathway, which is believed to play a crucial role in colon cancer. It has also identified small molecule inhibitors of BACE (beta-amyloid converting enzyme). In parallel, the company has identified and is in the process of further characterizing a series of novel growth-related drug target candidate genes for exploitation in cancer therapy. Headquartered in Zurich-Schlieren, Switzerland, the company currently has 29 employees. The Genetics Company offers you a range of high quality products to analyze Amyloid beta peptides x-40 and x-42 for basic research but also for pre-clinical and clinical development and in vitro diagnostics (IVD). Its CE-certified ELISA kits are the only clinically validated products for the determination of the Abeta42/40-Ratio in human CSF. These kits enable the early diagnosis of incipient Alzheimer's disease and can be used for patient stratification and monitoring in clinical trials of Alzheimer drug candidates.

Immune Design Corp. is a clinical-stage immunotherapy company focused on cancer with in vivo approaches designed to enable the body's immune system to fight disease. It develops multiple product candidates from its discovery platforms, ZVex and GLAAS. The company was founded by Steven G. Reed and David Baltimore on February 20, 2008 and is headquartered in Kenilworth, NJ.

Isotechnika Pharma, Inc. is a biopharmaceutical company, which focuses on discovery and development of immunomodulating therapeutics. Its products include voclosporin and non-immunosuppressive cyclosporine analogue molecules. The company was founded by Robert T. Foster founded on June 16, 1993 and is headquartered in Edmonton, Canada.

Episcopal Relief & Development Corp. operates as a relief and development agency. It works with Church partners and other local organizations to save lives and transforms communities worldwide. The company was founded in 1940 and is headquartered in New York, NY.

Caprion Proteomics, Inc. provides proteomics and immune monitoring services to the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry. It specializes in proteomics, biomarkers, discovery, validation, services, immune monitoring, flow cytometry and elispot areas. The company was founded by Neil Cashman and Martin LeBlanc in 2000 and is headquartered in Montreal, Canada.

Rain Oncology, Inc. is a clinical-stage precision oncology company, which focuses on developing and implement the precision oncology therapies for patients suffering from cancer. The company was founded by Avanish Vellanki and Robert Doebele in April 2017 and is headquartered in Newark, CA.

Qiming US Ventures Management LLC (Qiming Venture Partners) is a Venture Capital subsidiary of Qiming Venture Partners Ltd founded in 2017 by Mark D. McDade and Gary Edward Rieschel. The firm is headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Walking Fish Therapeutics, Inc. engages in the provision of immune therapy services. It offers treatment for oncology, rare deficiency disease, regenerative medicine, and infectious disease. The company was founded by Lewis T. Williams, Mark Selby, Seenu Kothakota, and Tom Brennan and is headquartered in South San Francisco, CA.

Brookline Capital Acquisition Corp. is a blank check company which intends to focus its search on companies in the life sciences industry. It was formed for the purpose of entering into a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, recapitalization, reorganization, or other similar business combination with one or more businesses or entities. The company was founded on May 27, 2020 and is headquartered in New York, NY.