Third Rock Ventures Together with Private Investors, Drs. Nick Lydon, PhD and Brian MD Lead $40 Million Investment in BluePrint Medicines to Further Develop Translations of New Molecular Data for Personalized Cancer Treatments

Based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, BluePrint Medicines is an innovative company that is developing revolutionary new solutions for the effective treatments of cancers. BluePrint announced on April 11, 2011, that it has secured $40 million in series A funding, led by Third Rock Ventures and two private investors who are also involved with the founding of the company, Drs. Nick Lydon, PhD and Brian Druker, MD. Proceeds from this funding round will go to innovative new solutions which can help health professionals translate new molecular data into personalized cancer treatments.

Since its inception, BluePrint Medicines has dedicated its mission to develop sensitive therapies to treat cancer by translating new molecular data into personalized cancer treatments that are aimed for cancers for the individual patient. The great benefit of personalized cancer treatments means that each individual cancer patient can have an effective treatment that will work best for his particular situation. This type of treatment works by being able to read new molecular data from the individual patient and develop molecular based treatments for that patient based on his genetic data and on the mutations of the individual patient.

The solutions that BluePrint Medicines is developing involve the molecular blueprint of the genetic make up of each cancerous mutations. By analyzing the molecular data of cancer mutations of individual patients instead of an individual group will allow oncologists and other medical professionals develop a personalized treatment which can affect the individual patient in a positive way.

Besides being on BluePrint’s advisory board, Drs. Nick Lydon and Brian Druker also have major experiences in life sciences and molecular medicine under their belts, which include the 2009 Lasker DeBakey Clinical Medical Research for their role in the development of the drug, Gleevec. Gleevec is a kenase inhibitor. This kenase inhibitor is primarily used for the treatment of myeloid leukemia, which has since its employment into treatment has turned this once deadly cancer into a manageable disease.

According to Dr. Lydon, over the past ten years, the kenase inhibitor has been successfully developed for the treatment of cancer. These unique inhibitors have already gone through a battery of clinical trials where they have been administered to cancer patients and have the potential of revolutionizing how cancer will be treated in the future. Dr. Lydon further added that by causing molecular change in individual cancer patients that can create a selective treatment against some of the deadliest forms of cancer can seriously affect the way people can deal with cancer and the management of this terrible disease can become much easier and ensure a better quality of life for patients.

Founded in 2007, Third Rock Ventures is a venture capital firm that primarily invests in entrepreneurs who are willing to transform their companies into world-class corporations. The primary industry preference of Third Rock are companies who are in the life sciences industry and who’s teams are passionate in developing sciences that are disruptive in the marketplace and provide exceptional care and quality of patients. Some other companies in Third Rock’s portfolio include AB Lexis, Agios, Alnara Pharmaceuticals, CytomX Therapeutics, NinePoint Medical, Zafgen, and others.

Dr. Lydon is on BluePrint Medicines scientific advisory board and is also one of the scientific founders of the company. Before working on the foundation of BluePrint, Dr. Lydon has had other entrepreneurial experience as well. He also founded Granite Biopharma, LLC, where he also served as the company’s president. Prior to his entrepreneurial experience, Dr. Lydon also worked for the Swiss pharmaceutical company, CIBA Geigy, based in Basel, Switzerland. At CIBA Geigy, Dr. Lydon worked on their scientific team and identified several important kenase proteins, much like the ones used in the inhibitors that BluePrint is developing today.

Dr. Druker is also on the company’s scientific advisory board and is a scientific founder of BluePrint together with Dr. Lydon. Dr. Druker’s partnership with Dr. Lydon has deep roots and has worked together with Dr. Lydon on the development of Gleevec, which won both of them the 2009 Lasker DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award. Dr. Druker is a dedicated researcher and has won many other awards as well, including the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

To read more about Drs. Lydon and Druker, along with the other members of BluePrint’s scientific advisory board, click here.