Civilization VC @CivilizationVC

Protectionism will not work in #biotech (it certainly won't rescue companies that have no product and whose shares are down 98% from their highs). What it will do is raise costs, slow innovation, and ultimately cost lives. The United States should focus on strengthening its competitive advantages: 🔬 Invest aggressively in scientific R&D, startups, and clinical trials. 💊 Launch a modern "Manhattan Project" to secure domestic #manufacturing of critical pharmaceutical ingredients and medicines. ✂️ Cut unnecessary regulations while maintaining rigorous safety standards. 🧲Improve immigration laws to retain the world's best #scientific talent. 🌎 China, Latin America, India, Europe: competition is everywhere. It's called capitalism. America wins not by building walls around innovation, but by out-innovating everyone else.

@CivilizationVC in das Haus here in Berlin talking AI and #bio innovation!

@tahoe_ai team doing what they do best! A key takeaway from VCC’25 for us was that in the current data regimes, elegant statistical models match if not surpass far more complex transformer-based architectures! “Going back to the basics” is such a great title for this… to say nothing of the 2M cell dataset! Kudos…

Nima Alidoust @nalidoust

2 weeks ago

Today we release Rhaister, an elegant statistical model that predicts drug phenotypes in new contexts w/ accuracies comparable to experimental assays. And dropping Emerald Bay, a 2M cell dataset measuring long time-course phenotypes across 1000s of drug-cell line interactions.

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Such a rich convo => @ShahramSN is trying invest in ChatGPT at the cellular level. The future of biotech is in the data, and how companies can use to feed and train models to excel in medical diagnostics and beyond with his fund @CivilizationVC. To hear the full interview search for "First Funders" on Spotify, YouTube, Apple Podcast and more.

1. Increase gov't spending in R&D — DOUBLE the NIH, NSF, and other spending. Heck, TRIPLE it! 2. Streamline regulation for clinical trials (don't abolish, improve) and upgrade clinical trial centers globally. We should increase the size of the FDA with an expanded "international force" that can rigorously spread what works to other nations willing to invest resources in their clinical trial capabilities, and unleash the true internationalization of clinical trials. Part of this is collecting more and better patient data, under proper standardized protocols, so you can easily go from a Phase 1 abroad to a Phase 2 in the US or vice versa. This will help US biotech win globally. 3. Increase cross-links and investments from US to China. You heard me right. (I'm referring to private sector investments, not public. All US gov't money should stay 100% in the US. We're not going to fund Wuhan 2.0.) We'd all be sitting in front of our brick Ericsson phones if Foxconn hadn't built our iPhones. Let's let China — with US funding and support — build our drugs! Not exclusively, of course, but lets let the market drive it. The profits flow back to our pockets if we invest in, acquire, and trade Chinese companies and stock! This applies to VCs as well as public stock market investors. Everyone can benefit. The medicines come back to us to save our lives. What exactly is the downside? We are one species living on one planet, all facing the same diseases. Remember, we're still going to race hard with our own biotech industry — MORE gov't R&D, MORE culture of innovation, MORE company creation and investment, with appropriate tariffs to reciprocate any restrictions China (or others) place on US goods. We should be embracing innovation from all corners, while fortifying our own industries at the same time. Yin and yang. If we don't, we're going to spawn a medical tourism industry where rich Americans make it to Europe or China (or Canada?) for drugs they can't get here. We'll be stuck with inferior drugs here... and they will cost lives. We'll be the biggest losers. That's my solution. Thanks for reading! Thoughtful comments below - rude posts deleted. ---- Disclaimer: I founded @CivilizationVC, and we don't have any investments in China. I'm writing this independently because I think it is sensible policy.

My short X essay: Enter The Dragon! 🐉 💊🩺 You have questions. I have answers. #China #biotech. 🧵1/3 Let's start with a little historical context on how China has ascended. It's a superpower that has methodically taken over key industrial categories, one by one. 1. Renewables, solar, EVs, batteries (CATL, BYD): they beat Germany (Q-Cells), US (SunPower), South Korea (LG, Samsung), Japan (Sharp, Mitsubishi, Panasonic). 👉 Tesla would never have made it without massive US loans, EV tax credits, sellable reg credits (ZEV) and would now crash in the US market w/out massive tariffs on its Chinese competitors (100%-250%)... this was never a "free market". 2. Chemicals: China went from 4% to controlling 40%, leaving Germany (BASF, Bayer), the US (Dow, Dupont) in its dust. 3. Computers, electronics, telco: I feel ancient for once owning a Nokia (Finland), an Ericsson (Sweden), and Panasonic (Japan) phones (not at the same time of course 😁). Now it's all made in China (Foxconn, Taiwan owned)... but Huawei did get banned in the US due to espionage. There is no mobile revolution in its current form without China. 4. Factory automation/robotics: China bought a controlling stake in Germany's KUKA and taken the lead over Japan and the EU in this critical sector. 5. So now (finally...) the latest conquest: #biotech. ...👇

@bradloncar @Nicole_Paulk @ShahramSN @SirenBio @BiotechTV what a journey!

Go Niki!! @Nicole_Paulk @SirenBio @CivilizationVC

BiotechTV @BiotechTV

a month ago

𝐀𝐒𝐆𝐂𝐓 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔: @SirenBio recently has seen two INDs cleared for its AAV based gene therapy for oncology. Founder @Nicole_Paulk discusses how they are prepared to enter the clinic shortly. Full video: biotechtv.com/post/asgct-202…

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Today, we achieved a humbling milestone at @CivilizationVC — our realized returns to investors hit $150M, meaning we have returned far more capital than we have invested to date. This milestone is doubly meaningful given the malaise that the #biotech and #health sectors are only now emerging from. How did we do it? First, we think different. While nearly all #biotech funds focus primarily on therapeutics, we go beyond and back the convergence of technologies like #AI, genetic engineering, and multi-omics insights powering new #diagnostics, software, and drugs. This contrarian strategy has supercharged our returns and 17 exits. Second, we're all about the #founders. In traditional bio investing, young first-time founders are often overlooked in favor of "seasoned" executives. We, by contrast, embrace emerging leaders—first-time founders and CEOs—who have gone on to transform industries. We provide them with everything we can to build their unfair execution advantage. It is to our founders that we give our deepest gratitude!

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📢 Big @CivilizationVC news 👉 We are honored to announce our partnership with one of #Japan's 🇯🇵preeminent #biopharmas, @KyowaKirin_US, through its newly established Cowellnex arm. We are especially excited about what this partnership unlocks for our #founders leading the future of #biotech, #medicine, #diagnostics, and health #AI, now with access to our growing global network! 🌏🚀 You can read more about our partnership here: kirinholdings.com/en/newsroom/re…

This is exactly what we back, and why we back it. Check out our diagnostics portfolio: civilizationventures.com

Patrick Collison @patrickc

2 months ago

I'm lucky enough to have a great doctor and access to excellent Bay Area medical care. I've taken lots of standard screening tests over the years and have tried lots of "health tech" devices and tools. With all this said, by far the most useful preventative medical advice that

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We’re super jazzed about this team and their mission. @CivilizationVC

TechCrunch @TechCrunch

2 months ago

10x Science has raised a $4.8 million seed round to help pharmaceutical researchers understand complex molecules. spr.ly/6013BBDOJR

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Fun fact: @CivilizationVC has put 10 drugs into human clinical trials. 🩺 Of those, 1 has already received @US_FDA approval. 🏁 🏆 ⚕️ We're here to back life-saving, life-extending 💊💉🏥

What do you think — should the FDA have rejected this cancer drug that appeared to work (despite no control arm given it was for late stage patients)? leave comments👇 "Patients with metastatic melanoma who stop responding to other immunotherapies typically die in less than a year. In Replimune’s trial, tumors shrank in nearly all patients and vanished in one of six. About a third went into remission. FDA staff were so impressed by the results that the agency designated RP1 a “breakthrough therapy” in November 2024 to expedite its review. As we’ve reported, Dr. Prasad last summer overruled career staff to reject RP1. The agency’s main criticism was that its trial lacked a control arm, though this would be unethical in late-stage patients who failed to improve on other therapies. Oncologists around the world lambasted the FDA. Melanoma World Society president Axel Hauschild wrote to the FDA that a randomized control study “would be considered as unethical” in his home country of Germany. Drs. Makary and Prasad tried to deflect criticism by blaming the rejection on Richard Pazdur, then head of the FDA oncology center." Vinay Prasad is leaving the FDA, but he’s kicking patients with late-stage melanoma on his way out. wsj.com/opinion/replim… via @WSJopinion

ADCs (antibody drug conjugates) are an increasingly potent weapon against #cancer. Nice interview @bradloncar. Big win for @Tubulis_GmbH as @GileadSciences slaps down $5B. Dominik + team @Tubulis_GmbH – herzlichen Glückwunsch dazu, dass ihr das Feld der Krebsmedizin voranbringt, und zu eurer herausragenden Akquisition! 🎉 We at @CivilizationVC have a few ADCs up our sleeves that we'll discuss in the coming months. 😇

Brad Loncar @bradloncar

3 months ago

Last year I visited @Tubulis_GmbH in Munich, Germany. Here's what CEO Dominik Schumacher told me they were aiming to do. Congrats on today's acquisition by @gilead for up to $5B, and congrats to @schroederthilo who raved to me about this company.

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What if #autism and #Alzheimer’s are two expressions of the same underlying biology and disease of the brain across a lifetime? And treatments for one could implicate cures for the other? The divide between developmental and neurodegenerative #brain disorders is blurring: autistic individuals have >2x higher risk of Alzheimer’s. Why? 🧬 ~150 shared genes b/w the two conditions shaping neuronal synapses that build brain circuits early in life, and break down later. 🧠 disregulation of the brain's “cleanup system” in both, including the glymphatic + mTOR/autophagy: when waste clearance 🧹 fails 👉 proteins misfold 👉 connections degrade 👉 disease emerges "Surprising links between autism, Alzheimer’s could change how we treat both" wapo.st/41On8Xy

@brian_armstrong 100% follow our portfolio for insights Brian!

We are pleased to announce that our portfolio company @RocketPharma has obtained FDA approval for a gene therapy that treats a severe form of a rare immune disorder called leukocyte adhesion deficiency-I (LAD-I)! We honor founder/CEO Dr. Gaurav Shah @gshahrocket + his incredible team on this big achievement! 🚀🧬🩸 Another step forward for the field of genetic medicines. "For the first time in the history of our species, we are discussing not just effective treatments, but potentially total cures at the genetic level, which is the deepest essence of who we are as physical living beings.” - Dr. Shah

Shahram Seyedin-Noor @ShahramSN

3 months ago

Today is a BIG day for @RocketPharma — and for my firm @CivilizationVC!!! An FDA approved drug. 🚀🧬 The FDA granted accelerated approval to Rocket gene therapy for the severe form of a rare immune disorder called leukocyte adhesion deficiency-I (LAD-I). "LAD-I is caused by

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Today is a BIG day for @RocketPharma — and for my firm @CivilizationVC!!! An FDA approved drug. 🚀🧬 The FDA granted accelerated approval to Rocket gene therapy for the severe form of a rare immune disorder called leukocyte adhesion deficiency-I (LAD-I). "LAD-I is caused by mutations in the ITGB2 gene and leads the immune system to stop working properly. Patients with severe disease face serious and potentially deadly bacterial and fungal infections. Currently, the only potential cure is stem cell transplant from a donor, but that bears its own serious risks. The gene therapy involves extracting a young patient’s own blood stem cells and modifying them in the lab to introduce functional copies of the gene. Patients then receive conditioning to clear out their bone marrow, after which the modified cells are infused back in hopes of giving them a working immune system." Congratulations to the Rocket team on this milestone! FDA approves Rocket's gene therapy for ultra-rare immune disease - endpoints.news/fda-approves-r…