Biotech entrepreneurship must run in the blood for the Langers.
Moderna co-founder Robert Langer is helping guide a new venture capital firm, T.Rx Capital, which closed its $77.5 million inaugural fund on Thursday. But Robert won’t be the only Langer in the business, as the firm was co-founded by his son, Michael Langer.
Michael Langer has previously helped found family investment firm Old Silver VC, which invested in the likes of Big Hat Biosciences and Seismic Therapeutics, and has also previously held leadership roles at the digital therapeutics company Pear Therapeutics.
Michael Langer, along with fellow co-founders Pear Therapeutics’ former CEO Corey McCann, M.D., Ph.D., and Eli Lilly vet Kwesi Frimpong-Boateng, want T.Rx to back “visionary founders” at the intersection of technology and biology. That includes companies that operate in biotechnology, techbio and tech-enabled services, according to a Sept. 18 press release.
“As biology and technology converge, we see a historic opportunity to build scalable platforms that can fundamentally reshape disease treatment,” Michael Langer said in the release. “We partner early with scientifically rigorous, execution-focused teams and provide the capital, network and strategic support to help them build durable value from day one.”
Along with financial backing from Robert Langer, who will serve as the firm’s executive chair, the first fund was supported by an investor base that includes family offices and “high-net-worth individuals” across the globe. The VC's first fundraise is also backed by individual founders from Polaris Partners, Lux Capital and Third Rock Ventures.
The fund will focus specifically on company creation through series B financing, with the firm’s ultimate goal being to build a portfolio of 10 to 15 companies, writing checks worth $5 to $10 million, and taking active roles in company creation and governance.
T.Rx has assembled a star-studded lineup of industry leaders to serve on its advisory board, including Robert Langer, who McCann called “our fearless leader” in a LinkedIn post. Robert Langer has co-founded more than 40 biotechs and is one of nine Institute Professors at MIT, the highest title a faculty member can achieve at the prestigious university.
Joining him on the board is Mark Levin, the founder of Third Rock Ventures; Boston Scientific co-founder John Abele; Voyager Therapeutics CEO Al Sandrock, M.D., Ph.D.; former FDA Chief Counsel Peter Barton Hutt; and ex-Pfizer CMO Freda Lewis-Hall, M.D.
The T.Rx founders believe now is the time to launch given the “unique window” 2025 presents for biotech investment, Frimpong-Boateng added in the release.
“With exit markets recovering, this is an exceptional time for venture capital to support the next wave of transformative biotech companies,” he said.