Loxo founder launches new biotech company

STAMFORD — Dr. Josh Bilenker, the founder and former CEO of Stamford-based Loxo Oncology, one of the most influential cancerfocused startups of recent years, has launched another locally based oncology firm.

Treeline Biosciences aims to “prioritize molecular targets in oncology that are validated but difficult to drug” and “if successful, we believe that our approaches could apply to other therapeutic areas as well,” Bilenker and Treeline’s other founder, Dr. Jeff Engelman, wrote in a message posted on the firm’s website.

“The (Treeline) name is meant to connote the outer edge of scientific possibility, where conditions are challenging but the metaphorical trees still grow,” Bilenker and Engelman also wrote.

Treeline will have a “corporate presence” in Stamford, with lab operations in San Diego and Watertown, Mass., the founders said.

Bilenker is Treeline’s CEO, according to his LinkedIn profile. Engelman is the “CSO,” according to his LinkedIn profile — an acronym that often refers to a biotech firm’s chief scientific officer. Engelman previously served as global oncology head at the Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research.

As a sign of Treeline’s progress, Bilenker and Engelman said in their message that the firm recently closed on a Series A funding round. They did not disclose the amount raised, but said that RCH Venture Partners, GV and OrbiMed led the financing. Other investors in

cluded Access Industries, Ajax Health/Zeus, Casdin Capital, funds and accounts advised by T. Rowe Price Associates and Aisling Capital.

In their message, Bilenker and Engelman also outlined key features of Treeline’s research and development.

“Our efforts will incorporate both established and emerging technologies, across disciplines, including biology (big data genetics, CRISPR, cell biology), chemistry (covalent modifiers, molecular glues, degraders, allosteric approaches), structural biology (Cryo-EM, NMR, X-ray crystallography) and computation (in silico docking, molecular dynamics, machine learning/AI),” they wrote. “Many components of this toolbox did not exist even 5 years ago, and our industry is only beginning to integrate these capabilities into the routine drug discovery cascade.”

In response to an inquiry from Hearst Connecticut Media, a spokesman said that Treeline was “not conducting any interviews at this time.”

“There is a ton of work to do, both in building a team and launching the science,” Bilenker and Engelman added in their message. “Please forgive us in advance for keeping a low profile. We’ll report back from the tree line once we’ve marked some new trails.”

Treeline’s launch follows Bilenker’s 2013 founding of Loxo Oncology, which was acquired for $8 billion in 2019 by pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly & Co.

The acquisition of Loxo showed the widespread belief in the potential of

Loxo’s drugs, which have been praised by doctors for offering personalized, genebased cancer treatment. Vitrakvi, which was approved by the Food and Drug Administration in November 2018, comprised a first-of-its-kind medication for adult and pediatric patients with solid tumors that have the “TRK fusion” genetic mutation.

Participants in Vitrakvi’s clinical testing in 2017 included a Bridgeport baby, Rihanna Plaza. The drug cured the cancer that had threatened to disable now-4-year-old Rihanna’s right arm.

“This will be part of Rihanna’s life forever,” Enrique Plaza, Rihanna’s father, said in a December 2018 interview. “Rihanna could be an example for other kids to get this medicine.”

Today, Loxo operates as the research-and-development organization for oncology within Lilly. Its second drug, Retevmo, was approved by the FDA in May 2020.

The firm has about 55 Stamford-based employees, with downtown offices at 281 Tresser Blvd. Jake Van Naarden, formerly Loxo’s chief operating officer, took over as Loxo CEO at Lilly earlier this year. Lilly is not involved in Treeline.

Stamford is the home city of a number of other biotech firms. In a filing to the Securities and Exchange Commission, Treeline listed a business address of 68 Southfield Ave., in the city’s Waterside section. Those offices are in the same complex of buildings as the recently opened laboratory of health care information firm Sema4.

Other promising bioscience companies headquartered in the city include Cara Therapeutics and SpringWorks Therapeutics.