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Hatch Biofund is a life sciences venture capital firm headquartered in the Philadelphia region, one of the fastest-growing biotech hubs in the world. At Hatch, we provide early-stage capital to promising life science companies, along with access to deep industry expertise and physical platforms to help them realize their missions. We put collaboration at the center of everything we do, with a core mission of delivering key support to exceptional entrepreneurs working on life-changing scientific solutions.
1. Transitive verb: to bring into being by incubation
2. Transitive verb: to draw with precise, closely spaced lines
3. Noun: an exit path or opening
DEFINITION
Hatch /hæt/
HATCH BIOFUND
Enabling Life-Changing Discoveries
Hatch Biofund invests excusively in private companies developing theraputics and vaccines for human use.
INVESTMENT FOCUS
We invest in all treatment modalities, from small molecules to cell and gene therapy, but are partial to capital efficiency, clear development pathways, and experimental medicines that promise to bring great value to society.
We take an active role in all of our investments and leverage our partner relationships for the benefit of our portfolio companies.
INVESTMENT FOCUS
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PEOPLE
Lorenzo Pellegrini, Ph.D.
Managing Partner
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Louis P. Kassa III, MPA
Founder and Advisor
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Timothy M. Block, Ph.D.
Founder and Advisor
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LORENZO PELLEGRINI, Ph.D.
Managing Partner
Lorenzo has overall responsibilities for Hatch’s investing and operating activities. He is a scientist, investor and entrepreneur with 30 years of experience in the life sciences and is committed to translating scientific discoveries into products that make a difference in patients’ lives.
Lorenzo is the founder or co-founder of six biotech companies, as either sole founder or venture capital equity co-founder and manager. Prior to joining Hatch, he was the Founder of Palladio Biosciences, a drug development company developing innovative drugs for the treatment of rare kidney diseases. Serving as Palladio’s first CEO, he raised $20 million in venture capital financing and advanced the company’s lead drug through Phase 2 studies. Prior to Palladio, Lorenzo was a Partner at Care Capital, a leading venture capital and private equity firm investing in private life sciences companies and providing project-based financing for late stage drug development programs. During his 12-year tenure at Care, Lorenzo led the firm’s investments in Elevation Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Sunovion), Anacor Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Pfizer), Minerva Neurosciences (Nasdaq: NERV) and Agile Therapeutics (NASDAQ: AGRX), among others.
Lorenzo received a Laurea in Chemistry, summa cum laude, from the University of Padova, Italy; a Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the Max-Planck-Institute for Brain Research / University of Frankfurt am Main, Germany; and an M.B.A. with Honors from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. His original research work was published in leading peer-reviewed scientific journals such as Nature, Cell and Neuron, and he is an inventor of two patent families.
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louis p. kassa iii, MPA
Founder and Advisor
Lou is a highly accomplished executive with 30 years of experience leading non-profit organizations to operational success. He is an international authority on biotechnology entrepreneurship and incubators.
Lou is the Chief Executive Officer of the Pennsylvania Biotechnology Center (PABC), the Hepatitis B Foundation, and the Foundation's research arm, the Baruch S. Blumberg Institute. He oversees daily operations, finance, business development and compliance for all three entities. Lou joined PABC in 2014 and was promoted to Executive Vice President/Chief Operating Officer in 2017 and to CEO in 2022.
In addition to his work at the Foundation and PABC, Lou also worked part-time as the Chief Executive Officer for Youth Services Agency, a non-profit social services agency, from 2015 to 2017. He co-founded Family Foundations Partnership in 2017 and currently is Chief Executive Officer. He previously served as State Director and Chief Operating Officer at VisionQuest National, Ltd., a national behavioral health company.
Lou was selected among the Philadelphia Business Journal’s “Power 101” list of the region’s most influential business leaders in January of 2023. He was also named to the “10 Best COOs of 2020” by Industry Era, a global technology media outlet. A Bucks County, PA resident, Lou earned an undergraduate degree at Pennsylvania State University and a Master of Public Administration from Villanova University.
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TIMOTHY M. BLOCK, Ph.D.
Founder and Advisor
Timothy M. Block, Ph.D., FAASLD (hon.), is a world-renowned scientist, inventor and entrepreneur. He is the Co-founder and President Emeritus of the Pennsylvania Biotechnology Center, the Hepatitis B Foundation, and the Foundation’s research arm, the Baruch S. Blumberg Institute. He is also currently Adjunct Professor at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and at the Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine.
Dr. Block has co-authored more than 290 scholarly papers and is a co-inventor on 20 issued patents and 23 patent applications. His research focuses on the screening and discovery of antiviral drugs and biomarkers of liver cancer, for example pioneering the use of glycoproteomics as risk stratifiers for liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. In addition, Dr. Block is the scientific co-founder of several biotechnology companies, including Synergy Pharma (developer of the FDA-approved drug Trulance ), Glycotest (developing fucosylated biomarkers to detect liver diseases), and Enantigen (acquired by Oncore, now Arbutus).
Dr. Block was elected to the US National Academy of Inventors and was named a “Visionary in Hepatitis” by the World Hepatitis Alliance in 2017. In 2020, he received the first Distinguished Public Service award from the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases, which also named him a “Fellow” (FAASLD). Dr. Block trained as a virologist and biochemist and completed a Ph.D. in Microbiology at the State University of NY (Buffalo), a Post Doctoral research fellowship in biochemistry at Princeton University, and a sabbatical at the University of Oxford. He was awarded a Med. Doctor. Honorary Causes in 1999 and has served on the faculties of Thomas Jefferson University and Drexel University College of Medicine, rising to tenured Full Professor at both institutions.
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We are proud to include highly successful pharma companies, real estate developers, research institutions and biotech incubators among our partners. They provide us and our portfolio companies with unique expertise and synergies. We are committed to working closely with our partners to meet our investment returns goals and their strategic objectives.
PARTNERS
STRATEGIC PARTNERS
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brandywine realty trust
Brandywine Realty Trust is a self-administered and self-managed real estate investment trust engaged in the acquisition, development, redevelopment, ownership, management, and operation of an urban, town center and transit-oriented portfolio of office and mixed-use properties. It is one of the largest, publicly traded, full-service, integrated real estate companies in the United States with a core focus in the Philadelphia, Austin and Washington, D.C. markets. For more than 25 years, Brandywine’s commitment to innovation, integrity, quality, and community has translated into not only business success, but also healthier and more vibrant communities.
https://www.brandywinerealty.com/
baruch s. blumberg institute
An independent, nonprofit research organization, the Blumberg Institute was launched in 2003 by the Hepatitis B Foundation to advance its research mission. Today, the Institute is
one of the nation’s leading centers for translational research in hepatitis B and liver cancer.
The Institute supports drug discovery, biomarker discovery and translational biotechnology
around common research themes such as chronic hepatitis, liver disease and liver cancer
in an environment conducive to interaction, collaboration and focus.
https://www.blumberginstitute.org/
daiichi sankyo
Daiichi Sankyo (DS) is a global pharmaceutical company with corporate origins in Japan.
DS provides innovative products and services in more than 29 countries around the world.
With more than 120 years of scientific expertise, DS draws upon a rich legacy of innovation
and a robust pipeline of promising new medicines to help patients. Through the outstanding knowledge and commitment of its 17,000 employees worldwide, DS creates innovative new and generic medicines, and new methods of drug discovery and delivery.
https://www.daiichisankyo.com/
the hepatitis b foundation
The Foundation is the nation’s leading nonprofit organization solely dedicated to finding a cure for hepatitis B and improving the quality of life for those affected worldwide through research, education and patient advocacy. Founded in 1991, the Hepatitis B Foundation is based in Doylestown, PA, with offices in Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia.
www.hepb.org
b+labs
B+Labs is a newly-constructed, state-of-the art, 50,000 sqft life sciences incubator in the heart of University City, Philadelphia, in an area teeming with top talent and renowned healthcare and academic institutions. Powered by the Pennsylvania Biotechnology Center (PABC), it provides flexible, plug & play lab and research space, within a specialized network of resources, programming, and expertise. B+Labs is part of Brandywine's Life Science ecosystem, which provides life science companies with the platform to grow into bigger users in the region, with flexibility for seamless expansion into larger graduation space.
https://blabscira.com/
pennsylvania biotechnology center
Located in Doylestown, PA, in the heart of the Philadelphia-New Jersey pharma belt, the Pennsylvania Biotechnology Center (PABC) is a nonprofit life sciences incubator-accelerator offering state-of-the-art laboratory and office space to 40+ early stage biotech companies. The PABC uses a highly successful services-based approach to nurture and guide its member companies to success, advancing biotechnology, maximizing synergies among nonprofit scientists and their commercial colleagues, and launching new ideas and discoveries. To date, more than 75 companies have called PABC their home. PABC tenants account for 17% of all NIH SBIR grants awarded in Pennsylvania and over the years have created billions of dollars in market value from IPOs, acquisitions and commercial valuations.
https://www.pabiotechbc.org/
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Philly’s Biotech Scene Needs More Local Money — Now
May 8, 2023
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B+labs at Cira Centre Fully Occupied and Open
May 9, 2022
The Wistar Institute, Pennsylvania Biotechnology Center and Baruch S. Blumberg Institute Forge Strategic Collaboration to Support Regional Biotech Startups
May 9, 2023
Hatch BioFund Announces New Partnership with Brandywine Realty Trust
Dec 20, 2023
CONTACT
Main Office Address:
Hatch Biofund
PA Biotechnology Center
3805 Old Easton Road, Suite 136
Doylestown, PA 18902
Satellite Office Address:
C/O Hatch Biofund
B+labs
2929 Arch Street
Philadelphia, PA 19104
Please email us at info@hatchbiofund.com if you would like to contact us.
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