Last updated on December 24th, 2021
End of Year Recap – 2021
Posted: December 24, 2021
Dear Sidecar Fund Investors,
We hope that everyone remains healthy and is doing well.
As we near the Fund’s second anniversary, the Fund has made six investments so far, several were in companies that were new to us, and several were in existing MABA portfolio companies, and there is room left for just one more large investment, before the Fund is fully invested.
The pandemic has affected a significant drop in applications in the first half of 2021, with numbers recovering somewhat, beginning in September. This resulted in a much smaller than usual amount of companies entering diligence, with, ultimately no new companies receiving an investment in 2021. We hope that the current crop of applications will lead to an investment in the near future, with one promising opportunity already in diligence.
Looking to 2022 and beyond, there are several exciting developments, on both the MABA and the Fund fronts.
MABA is looking to expand its investment horizons beyond just therapeutics, devices and diagnostics and begin considering digital health companies and other opportunities where the group’s expertise can be effectively leveraged in the diligence and selection of companies in which to invest.
Once the current Fund is fully invested we will launch Fund II, which will operate differently and will have a few new features – many of which are in response to requests we have received from you.
First and foremost, Fund II will be an open-ended fund, as opposed to the current Fund I, which is closed-ended. So, instead of a fixed closing date, after which the fund begins investing, Fund II will accept new investors and their investment contributions on a rolling basis. Among other things, this means that we will no longer have to tell interested investors to wait for the next fund to open. This change also coincides with similar changes we are making to our internal investment Pools, which are for active MABA members.
Another feature change will allow Fund II investors to make additional investments into companies they like. So, while Fund II will invest automatically in companies, based on a set of rules that is similar to Fund I’s, once the rules determine that an investment by Fund II will take place, and subject to sufficient investment room in the round, we will make it possible for those Fund II investors who are interested, to make additional, specific investments in the company receiving the investment. And, once invested in a company, investors will be allowed to participate in follow-on rounds in that company, at each investor’s discretion.
Fundamentally, though, Fund II will operate on a similar set of automatic, pre-determined rules for co-investments, though several changes were needed to its underlying operations to accommodate the new features noted above, all of which I would be happy to discuss with anyone interested in learning more about Fund II.
A reminder that, although we don’t always circulate an email notice about it, we do post updates from the portfolio companies to the Fund site on a regular basis – as they come in. So please make sure to peruse the site for updates when you have a free moment.
We will continue to update you – as the Fund makes its last investment – hopefully soon, as Fund II is launched, and as the Fund’s portfolio companies continue to progress, and will, of course, accompany bigger announcements with an email.
Best wishes for the holidays and for a healthy, happy and successful New Year.
New Investment in New View Surgical
Posted: September 9, 2021
We hope everyone is staying healthy and safe.
We are happy to announce that the Sidecar Fund has made an investment in New View Surgical (http://newviewsurg.com/), whose novel VisionPort™ System is the first surgeon-controlled, multi-camera laparoscopic visualization system.
New View Surgical (NVS) is a MABA portfolio company, which received multiple investments from our group, the first being in 2017, and included our first internal investment Pool, along with multiple investors. NVS has made steady progress over the years, securing FDA Clearance for its VisionPort™ System in June of this year. The current investment is part of a large, multi angel group syndicated round in which several of our investors participated, and which met all of the Sidecar Fund’s criteria for co-investment. This round also saw our group’s largest investment in the company, so far.
Needless to say, we are very excited about the company and its prospects.
2021 Mid Year Update
Posted June 11, 2021
Dear Sidecar Fund I investors,
We hope that everyone is healthy (and vaccinated) and doing well.
Our portfolio companies continue to execute on their plans and their regular reports are being updated to this site, as they are received. I hope you are as happy to read of some of the progress being reported as we are. Also, I recently reached out to all of our portfolio company CEOs for an in-person update on their activities, which you can read in the attached Dashboard.
The general market is beginning to see a rebound, as Covid-19 cases decline, and restrictions are loosened, a rebound we are hoping to begin to see in our pipeline, which is somewhat of a lagging indicator. A year of shut down halted most clinical trials (recruitment was impossible in lockdown), and with both labs working at lower capacity and in-person gatherings coming to a halt, research slowed, as did the rate of formation of new companies. So, while our membership growth is beginning to rebound, our applications are still behind. See the chart, below, for a tally of our applications, and a comparison to 2019 (pre-pandemic).
In addition to the decrease in applications, their overall quality appears to have decreased as well, as valuations are creeping up higher (a negative correlation), with VC funds posting record raises (and a limited pool of companies in which to invest). We realize that our industry has its cycles, and that this pandemic-fueled phenomenon may be larger and different than previous ones. Our group, however, maintains the same approach to our selection criteria, diligence and investments, which is to say that we have, so far, been investing in fewer companies, and, as we head into our summer break, after our upcoming June meeting, expect 2021 to be a lower-than-average year for our investments. Since the Sidecar Fund indexes our investments, this will also have implications on the Fund and the deployment of its capital, which was otherwise on track (approximately 50% of the Fund’s capital was deployed in the first year, as expected).
We will continue to update you, as the year progresses, and look forward to returning to “normal” investing, as pandemic-related effects and fads (e.g., SPACs) begin to fade.
As always, please do not hesitate to reach out to me with any questions or comments you may have.
New Investment & End of Year Recap
Posted December 22, 2020
We hope everyone is staying healthy and safe.
We are happy to announce that the Sidecar Fund has made an investment in Seneca Therapeutics, “developing a pipeline of best-in-class oncolytic immunotherapeutics that are highly effective in treating cancer patients with solid cancers.” They are trying to “convert the tumor microenvironment from cold to hot”, or, in other words, convert undruggable cancer targets into druggable candidates. They are led by an industry-experienced CEO, who recently joined the team.
Although the pandemic is currently seeing a significant surge in numbers, the recent release of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines provide a ray of hope that we are, indeed, seeing the beginning of the end of this pandemic. And these are just two efforts out of 4,251 clinical trials currently registered on clinicaltrials.gov (as of this writing), which are investigating the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) – vaccines, therapeutics, diagnostics, etc.
2020 has been one of the most unusual years to be investing, and yet our group, and the angel investment community in general, adjusted early on, and remained engaged in ongoing investment activities, though the nature of the investments changed somewhat. At the onset of the pandemic the investment community shifted its focus to supporting existing portfolio companies, and, once these early rounds were covered, new investments were again considered.
The Sidecar Fund I portfolio so far reflects the circumstances of our times in that it includes several later stage companies, as well as our latest investments, in earlier stage companies, representing diverse risk profiles and different exit timeline opportunities.
We hope that 2021 will bring with it a definitive end to the pandemic and a return to a new normal, along with exciting investment opportunities.
Sidecar Fund co-invests in Astrocyte Pharmaceuticals
Posted: December 2, 2020
We hope that everyone is staying well and safe.
We are happy to announce that the Sidecar Fund has made an investment in Astrocyte Pharmaceuticals.
Astrocyte Pharmaceuticals Inc. is a small drug development company dedicated to clinically proving the neuroprotective benefits of selective astrocyte activation, and advancing breakthrough therapeutic agents for treating brain injury patients.
They are led by an experienced and well rounded team advancing an asset showing excellent early data, in a difficult therapeutic space that has tremendous need, and one which has seen a limited number of innovations reaching the market. This is one of those investments one could consider as “high risk, high reward”. One of the MABA investment pools, as well as several members, joined more than 60 other investors and entities in this round.
Celebrating an Exit and more
Posted: October 9, 2020
We hope that everyone is staying well and safe.
MABA just announced an exit from portfolio company Immunomic Therapeutics. MABA members were early investors in Immunomic Therapeutics which paid a dividend to investors of approximately 5X invested capital when licensing its allergy division to Astellas in 2015. After acquisition of a majority of its shares by HLB Co, Ltd., a multi-billion-dollar market cap Korean life sciences company, the company offered to buy shares back from remaining shareholders at approximately 4X invested capital for its early investors, increasing their yield, for those who accepted the offer, to 9X return on capital invested. The transaction was intended to provide liquidity to long-term stockholders; reduce the number of stockholders; and increase the percentage ownership of outstanding stock by HLB Co, Ltd. The buyback was capped at $20 million and occurred in August. Immunomic Therapeutics and HLB Co have also indicated the possibility that the company will be taken public through an initial public offering (IPO) on either the Korean or one of the US-based exchanges, at some time in 2021, to provide liquidity to those shareholders who were not eligible for, or opted out of the current buyback.
Meanwhile, MABA members have been actively screening and reviewing new investment opportunities.
MABA’s summer break during July and August, traditionally a slow period, has been much more active this year, primarily due to the current pandemic’s effects on people’s summer travel plans, which meant that more investors were at home and available to get involved with investment opportunity reviews and diligence. As a result, several opportunities have progressed through screening during the summer and received strong investment support from the group. They are expected to proceed to the investment stage in the next few months. These opportunities are also expected to meet the qualification criteria for co-investment by the Sidecar Fund. We will, of course, advise you as soon as these investments close, and are looking forward to adding the companies to our portfolio, and to telling you more about them, once they are added.
COVID-19 Related Activities – Update
Posted: April 22, 2020
I wanted to provide a quick update on our activities during the current Covid-19 crisis, which has affected every life and every business sector.
Companies in the life sciences are able to operate, but are facing extreme issues, such as:
– Staff is at home, often taking care of kids out of school, etc.
– Even when staff is healthy and available, companies must restrict the number of staff that can be on site at any given time, which affects all research, development and commercialization activities.
– Non-Covid-19 related clinical trials are being postponed, and those currently running are being disrupted, due to the difficulties in recruiting and interacting with patients at this time.
– Most elective procedures have been postponed
– Sales cycles are growing and sales of non-Covid-19 related products are being postponed
In light of the above, most companies have gone into survival mode, trying to protect existing efforts and staff, while delaying all non-essential activities. Fewer companies are launching new rounds of funding, and funded companies are looking for ways to extend their runways.
To address the latter, we reached out to our portfolio companies to understand how they are being impacted and ascertain current needs and opportunities for us to assist. Several have since presented an update to our members, during our monthly meetings, now held virtually. It is possible that these latest interactions will result in additional investments by our members into existing portfolio companies, some of which may qualify for co-investment by the Fund – if they meet the co-investment criteria.
MABA is otherwise seeing a general slowing in new applications, and we have also, so far, avoided Covid-19 specific opportunistic offerings.
Please reach out to us if we can provide any additional information – at this, or any other time.
Please stay safe.
Sidecar Fund co-invests in FemSelect
Posted: March 26, 2020
We are happy to announce that the Sidecar Fund has made an investment in FemSelect (formerly POP Medical).
FemSelect is an Israeli-based company commercializing A mesh-free approach for pelvic floor fixation for Pelvic Organ Prolapse (POP), which is a painful, debilitating medical condition that occurs when the normal support of the vagina is lost, resulting in the “sagging” or dropping of the female pelvic organs.
FemSelect received investment in the past from MABA members, as well as from one of MABA’s internal investment Pools. The current investment round included multiple MABA members – some of whom invested in the company in previous rounds and several for whom FemSelect was a new investment. The size of the investment by MABA members and the number of investors in the round qualified this investment round for co-investment by the Sidecar Fund.
COVID-19 Guest Blog
Posted: Jan 20, 2020
I want to share with you an opinion piece written by one of our MABA Steering Committee members, Jon Popke, who is also Executive Director, Toxicology with Regeneron Pharmaceuticals.
With all the uncertainly currently surrounding the current COVID-19 outbreak, it is important to pause from time-to-time to take stock of the remarkable technologies being deployed to combat the pending epidemic. Note, for example, that 2 separate clinical trials initiated in the U.S. this week to test potential therapies against the virus.
The first is a vaccine trial launched in collaboration with the National Institutes of Health. The vaccine was constructed based on genetic information (RNA) derived from the virus itself and is designed to entice the recipients’ immune system into developing antibodies that will attack the actual virus in the event it is ever encountered. As a testament to the scientific and collaborative muscle that is being leveraged against the pandemic, it is remarkable to note that the company that developed the vaccine (Moderna), working in collaboration with the National Institutes of Health (NIH), was able to develop the vaccine sequence within only 2 days of receiving the genetic information about the virus from health authorities in China. The second clinical trial that launched this week is a test of a drug that aims to block the inflammatory process that is at the root of the lung damage seen in the sickest of the COVID-19 patients. This particular drug, called Kevzara, is already approved in the U.S. for the treatment of Rheumatoid arthritis, has already proven to be safe in a large number of patients, and is ready to be manufactured in large quantities if proven to be effective in COVID-19 patients. Unlike the vaccine from Moderna, this particular treatment does not require patients’ immune system to generate antibodies in order to impart its pharmacologic effects.
In addition to the drugs that have already entered clinical trials, there are several other therapeutic approaches being developed that could begin human testing by the end of the summer. The first broad group of drugs targets the machinery in the body that enables the virus to infect us in the first place. Some of these drugs were initially developed as therapies against the closely-related corona viruses MERS and SARS, while others are being developed from antibodies isolated from patients who have contracted, and subsequently recovered from COVID-19 (i.e., those who have already developed a measure of immunity). There are also antibody-based approaches being developed that target the virus itself, as opposed to targeting the immune system or route of infection of the host. One specific approach, which was quite successful in stemming deaths from Ebola in west Africa several years ago, is to block a specific glycoprotein on the surface of the virus that it uses to attach to the surface of cells—thereby blocking its ability to infect. As with other approaches that do not actively engage the patients’ immune system, this approach is designed for treatment/prophlylaxis and is not a vaccine per se.
So, if you find yourself growing discouraged by the sheer volume of negative news stories related to the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak, you can take a some measure of solace in the fact that, despite all the uncertainty inherent in the current situation, there is plenty to be optimistic about as well!
SIDECAR FUND COMPLETES ITS FIRST INVESTMENT
Posted: Jan 13, 2020
The MABA Sidecar Fund I has made its first investment, in Cerus Endovascular.
To give the Fund access to a broader range of investment opportunities in which MABA Members are investing, the Fund may invest in opportunities where the investment by MABA Members and/or the Pools was made within six (6) months prior to the closing of the Fund, provided that they satisfy the Fund’s investment rules and, provided further that the same securities are still available from the Presenting Company on the same terms as the MABA Members and/or the Pool(s) invested.
Cerus Endovascular received investment from MABA members and MABA Investment Pool II within the last six months, in a round that has been extended by the company into the January 2020, and on the same terms.
This opportunity has therefore met all of the criteria for co-investment by the Fund, and, subsequently, the Fund made its first investment in Cerus Endovascular.
Additional information about the company and a link to the company’s website can be found under Portfolio Companies. Updates from the company will be posted, as soon as they are provided.
1st PITCH LIFE SCIENCE
Posted: Jan 3, 2020
In addition to being active in third-party organized events, for many years MABA also organized its own set of sponsored events titled “1st Pitch Life Science” (1stpitchlifescience.com). When they began, in 2013, the 1st Pitch events helped establish MABA’s name and brand, while contributing to the deal flow pipeline and increasing our engagement with the local life science early stage ecosystem.
The 1st Pitch events mimicked our investor meetings, and helped educate companies which were not quite ready for funding about the angel investment process, in hopes that that one day they would develop into qualified investment candidates). The events were sponsored, free to attend, and drew between 70 to 130 people, mostly from the academic, biotech clubs and startup communities. Companies pitched and received feedback from a panel of our investors, and the audience voted on “Best in Show”. The winners received a monogrammed polo shirt and a press release, and were invited to compete at an end of the year “Best of the Best” competition/event. Many 1st Pitch companies have graduated to MABA applicants (and some came very close to receiving investment, including one, currently in diligence). In addition, we organized a 1st Pitch Steering Committee, composed of more than 40 leading life science institutions, organizations and companies, including Columbia University, NYU, Memorial Sloan Kettering, Mount Sinai, Princeton, U Penn, Rutgers, Roche, Pfizer, the Michael J. Fox Foundation, and others.
In 2019, we held five 1st Pitch events: March, June and October in NYC (the last being held at the Canadian Consulate and trade office in NYC), and April and October in PA, at the Cira Center. The Best of the Best competition took place on December 18, in NYC. Over the years, we have also held events in New Jersey and Baltimore, in addition to NYC.
The events, though, require a great amount of effort and cost to produce, and because of that, we decided to experiment with a new format in 2020. While remaining open to the public, we will shift to an “office hours/meet with” format, without food or competition, with companies pitching directly to the investors, and receiving feedback. This will allow us to have a more intimate dialogue with the companies, and will be easier from a logistics perspective, and less expensive as well. The meetings will be held in conference rooms, which are easier to secure than 150 person halls – at law firms, accounting firms, with our university collaborators on the Steering Committee, and others. The new format will also allow us to reach a wider geographical audience without the need for additional sponsorship funding.
INVESTMENTS
Posted: Nov 12, 2019
MABA members and the MABA internal investment Pools made two investments in 2019 (that would have qualified for co-investment by the Fund):
- Healionics, a Seattle, Washington-based company, developing a synthetic vascular graft (artificial blood vessel) which remains open to blood flow much longer than conventional vascular grafts. And,
- Cerus Endovascular, a UK-based company, with manufacturing facilities in California, engaged in the design and development of highly differentiated and proprietary interventional neuroradiology (INR) devices and delivery systems, which it believes will represent the next generation in the minimally invasive treatment of neurovascular diseases, particularly intracranial aneurysms.
Fund investors, who invested before the 1st closing, were given a one-time exception, which allowed them to selectively participate in both of these investments, through the Fund, since both of these opportunities would have otherwise qualified for co-investment by the Fund at that time, but not necessarily so, after the 2nd closing.
STATISTICS
Posted: Nov 10, 2019
MABA’s is constantly reviewing new applications for funding, and our yield is fairly consistent. Of every 100 applications, only 24 are invited to present to our group, while 76 are rejected in pre-screening, for a variety of reasons (which we share with the applicants). Of the presenting companies, 16, on average, proceed to due diligence, and, of these, two or three receive funding. These statistics remain fairly consistent, as the number of applications we have reviewed, to-date, exceeds 700.
OUTREACH
Posted: Dec 10, 2019
We continue to be very active in our outreach efforts, where we are able to showcase our group, meet new companies, and help seed the deal flow pipeline. In 2019 we participated in the following events:
- Angel Capital Association – April – in Chicago
- NJ Biopartnering – May
- Ontario Bio – May – web pitching event
- RESI (Redefining Early Stage Investments) – June – Philadelphia
- RESI – September – Boston
- NJEDA – Early Stage Investing in Life Sciences – October – NJ
- J&J JLabs – “Office Hours” – November – NYC
- NJEDA Founders & Funders – November – NYC
We expect to have a very active outreach schedule for 2020.