Astellas Venture Management LLC (AVM), a wholly-owned venture capital subsidiary of Astellas Pharma Inc., and Mission Bay Capital BioLabs (MBC BioLabs), a life-science incubator, have announced Vcreate and Weatherwax Biotechnologies as the winners of the Astellas-sponsored “Future Innovator Prize” at MBC BioLabs.
 
A Future Innovator Prize offers entrepreneurial scientists or emerging biotechnology startups one-year usage of MBC BioLabs’ lab facility in San Francisco, California, as well as access to Astellas’ research and development (R&D) capabilities and business leaders. 
 
Vcreate and Weatherwax Biotechnologies were chosen for the strength of the innovation in their approach, the therapeutic potential of their research and the potential expandability of their technological platforms.
 
“In awarding these Future Innovator Prizes, we are reinforcing Astellas’ ongoing commitment to discovering and advancing innovative science and to providing value for the future benefit of patients worldwide,” said Maruyama, president, AVM. “We applaud the efforts of Vcreate and Weatherwax Biotechnologies in their advancements in oncology research and we look forward to helping them realize their potential in these underserved patient populations.”

About Vcreate

Vcreate is a preclinical biotechnology company developing the next generation of T-cell therapies for cancers that are currently untreatable by chemotherapies, including pancreatic, colon, and lung cancers caused by KRAS mutations. The company’s screening assays and machine learning algorithms may help identify T-cell receptors that target cancer mutations 100x faster than existing methods.
 
“We are very pleased to be awarded an Astellas Future Innovator Prize,” said Binbin Chen, M.D., Ph.D., CEO of Vcreate. “Combining Astellas’ oncology and development expertise with MBC BioLabs’ exciting incubator space may allow us to make greater strides in the development of our algorithm and assist us in identifying targets that may help millions of people fighting these cancers.”

About Weatherwax Biotechnologies

Weatherwax Biotechnologies is a seed-stage startup developing the next generation of induced-proximity oncology medicines. The company utilizes its OmniTAC discovery platform to investigate bifunctional drugs accessing a vastly increased mechanism of action space for the potential treatment of previously “undruggable” oncology targets.
 
“Gaining access to Astellas’ R&D and clinical expertise in oncology and development of oncology modalities is a fantastic opportunity, for which we are most grateful,” said Armand B. Cognetta III, PhD, founder and CEO of Weatherwax Biotechnologies. “In conjunction with the lab space from MBC BioLabs, it will allow us to accelerate our work in finding new ways to address many difficult to treat cancers.”
 
“Winners of the Future Innovator Prize with Astellas really get the best of both worlds,” said Douglas Crawford, MBC BioLabs general manager. “Not only do they get a chance to ramp up their development process with access to our world-class facilities, they also get to work with some of the brightest pharmaceutical minds in the industry at Astellas. We’re very enthusiastic about the potential these two companies have to effect real change for patients.”
 
Both Vcreate and Weatherwax Bio will continue their residence at MBC BioLabs with the next year sponsored by Astellas. Both will be closely supported by the team from AVM and the Astellas Biomedical Innovation Hub organizations in the San Francisco area to maximize their progress.