Peter Thiel-backed ‘unicorn’ biotech posits that stem cells are root cause of cancer

Stem CentRx posits that cancer is caused by stem cells gone awry - and is developing antibody drug conjugate therapies to help attack cancer at its root. The Peter Thiel-backed "unicorn" startup is valued at some $3 billion.

Stem CentRx, a stealth Peter Thiel-backed “unicorn,” posits that stem cells could be the underlying cause of many cancers. The San Francisco biotech startup’s core technology is meant to eliminate these cancer stem cells – and it’s found itself with a massive valuation and a boatload of promise.

It’s developing a platform that can identify cancer stem cells, suss out novel targets, and create antibody-based therapies to stifle cancer’s growth at its root. Stem CentRx is taking the payload approach to cancer therapy – attaching cancer-killing drugs to antibody drug conjugates. As CEO Brian Slingerland told MIT Technology Reviewthe technology will work like “laser guided missiles attached to atomic bombs.” It plans to develop these kinds of therapeutics for some 10 different cancers in the next few years.

The startup has raised more than $500 million since its 2008 launch, and is valued at over $3 billion. About $200 million of this funding comes from Thiel – his largest investment to date in any given company. This says quite a lot, given that the lauded Silicon Valley venture capitalist has also invested in companies like SpaceX, Spotify and Palantir. Thiel has spoken publicly of his desire to work towards prolonging the human lifespan; to that end, this investment is key.

The MIT Technology Review writes of the company:

If hardly anyone has heard of Stemcentrx until now it is because the company has been hiding in plain sight. It occupies three floors on San Francisco’s bay overlooking the back gates of the Genentech campus, employs 140 people, and brings in Ronnie Lott, the former 49ers defender, as an inspirational speaker. But it hasn’t tossed out any press releases—and until last week it barely had a website. “With all the information out there, it’s surprisingly easy to remain stealth,” says Slingerland.

The MIT Technology Review piece is a sort of coming out party for Stem CentRx, which has been relatively press shy to date. Read the entire MIT Technology Review profile here.

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