Staff Writer

New venture capital firm Third Rock Ventures LLC is ready to help boost innovation in the life sciences industry.

Armed with $378 million in committed capital and a staff of veteran industry executives, the Boston-based firm aims at building biotech and medical device start-ups, specifically companies that are based on product engines or platform technologies capable of yielding multiple products across a range of disease areas. There is a growing demand for those types of firms these days, especially with big pharma pipelines drying up.

"Pharma's looking for new product engines," said Third Rock partner Kevin Starr. "It's fundamental to the growth of their businesses."

And platform companies appear to be coming back in vogue - as seen by the recent number of potential high-dollar, early stage research deals, such as the 10-compound discovery deal involving Ghent, Belgium-based Ablynx NV's Nanobody platform technology and German pharma firm Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH that could bring Ablynx as much as $1.8 billion. But Ablynx has been around since 2001. For start-up firms, even those with promising product-engine technologies, it's not always easy to capture the interest of investors, who often prefer companies with late-stage opportunities.

"There's a void out there in life science venture firms when it comes to start-ups," Starr said. Members of Third Rock's team, including Starr, had worked together at Millennium Pharmaceuticals Inc., as well as Mark Levin, founder and former CEO of the Cambridge, Mass.-based company, "and we started talking about the industry and about the things we love to do. And what we wanted was to create a different kind of venture firm."

Not only will Third Rock provide start-up capital, the investment group plans to get in on the ground floor and take on management duties, with a Third Rock partner acting as temporary CEO, while it sets up teams and positions the fledgling firms in the right direction.

It's a similar strategy to that of New York-based Two River Group Holdings LLC and Paramount BioSciences, also of New York, both of which work to establish firms upon the in-licensing of clinical-stage compounds. Two Rivers has founded Tigris Pharmaceuticals Inc., Nile Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Danube Pharmaceuticals Inc., and Paramount has spawned about 40 firms to date, including Coronado Biosciences Inc. and Tikvah Therapeutics Inc.

Though its focus is on firms with platform technologies, Third Rock is on the lookout specifically for start-up prospects that can generate clinical candidates within 12 to 24 months, Starr said. In the meantime, companies will seek immediate partnering opportunities to validate technology and leverage further growth.

"Our hope is to start two to three firms a year," Starr said, adding that Third Rock aims for a portfolio of about a dozen companies. It also aims for frugality, targeting an investment per company of about $30 million.

The goal is to build a firm "for the long term," Starr said. "We aspire to be here 20, 30, 40 years from now, as the No. 1 life sciences venture firm."

Along with Starr and Levin, Third Rock partners include Robert Tepper, previous head of research and development and chief scientific officer at Millennium; Lou Tartaglia, a thought leader in the field of obesity; Nick Leschly, a business development and marketing biotech executive; and Anne-Mari Paster, former chief financial officer of MPM Capital.