US-based life sciences venture capital firm Versant Ventures is expanding its operations into Canada in order to invest in early-stage drug discovery programs.
The company has established an office in Vancouver this year and created a new company called Inception 4 that has joined forces with Bayer Healthcare to develop new therapeutics for retinal eye disease.
An investment of $10m Series A has been committed by Versant to Inception 4 that will be managed by the Vancouver-based biotech team.
The investment will help in establishing new life science companies that can accelerate the development and commercialization of scientific research in Canada.
Versant Ventures managing director Brad Bolzon said the company is investing in British Columbia to develop early-stage companies because it knows there is exceptional research talent and leading academic research in the region.
"Our firm has a strong track record of investing in early-stage research as well as partnering with global biopharmaceutical companies to develop new medicines," Bolzon added.
Versant has over $1.6bn in assets under management in life sciences and it had recently formed a biotechnology incubator in Toronto, called Blueline Bioscience, which is collaborating with Celgene and aims to launch new companies in areas such as oncology and inflammation.
Currently, the company is seeking to expand its operations into the Quebec market in 2014.
