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Bonum CBO Neela Patel, Ph.D., and CSO Diane Hollenbaugh, Ph.D., joined Dr. Kevin Folta on the “Talking Biotech” podcast to discuss the science behind conditionally active therapeutics, Bonum’s platform, and how these biotherapies could reshape cancer treatment.

Like many startups, Bonum Therapeutics is a small, focused team advancing a novel technology. And like many early-stage companies, we rely on external consultants and contract development and manufacturing organizations (CDMOs) for cross-functional expertise.

Because Bonum is developing conditionally active molecules with a new mechanism of action, we needed a CDMO with deep experience in complex biologics and the flexibility to adapt as new data came in.

I am occasionally asked if I would recommend the transition from large company to a startup.  My answer is always “it depends.” Startup life is not a fit for everyone. The startup journey is a roller coaster—exhilarating, challenging, unpredictable, and filled with invaluable lessons. For me, the opportunity to learn, work with top people, and see the meaningful impact of my work while advancing my professional goals makes the inevitable risks worth taking.

Founder & CEO John Mulligan describes how he and his team sold an asset using the same science to Roche in 2022 for $250 million when they were Good Therapeutics, and how the follow-on company Bonum aims to test this approach more broadly. He describes how it works, and discusses the initial programs they have chosen, with a LAG3-IL2 being the most advanced.

Seattle-based biotechnology company Bonum Therapeutics in August will double its current space as it looks to expand its team. The company is moving from 1616 Eastlake Ave. E. to a 31,000-square-foot space a few blocks away at 1150 Eastlake Ave. E. in Seattle’s Eastlake neighborhood. The move comes as Bonum seeks to gradually expand its 31-person team to about double that over the next few years, according to Bonum founder and CEO John Mulligan.

Business development (BD) is an essential ingredient to the success of early-stage companies, whether they plan to exit through M&A, IPO, or have other mechanisms to return money to investors. The most effective corporate strategies, while typically and necessarily focused on scientific goals, also closely integrate well designed BD objectives and scenarios. When the science lines up, execution of BD goals can enable time-appropriate returns to investors, lengthen the runway (time to cash out), and expand the reach of core technologies beyond programs that can be carried out internally.

On this week’s episode of the Business of Biotech, we welcome two extraordinary guests – Dr. Neela Patel, a molecular biologist-turned-Chief Business Officer, and Dr. John Mulligan, an academic-turned-founder of newly-formed Bonum Therapeutics. Together, Neela and John will pull back the curtain on Bonum’s transition from its predecessor, Good Therapeutics, which was fueled by a high-profile asset sale to Roche. The asset, a PD-1-regulated IL-2 program, was a product of a platform that the new Bonum retains, and its sale to Roche was orchestrated by Dr. Patel. 

Good Therapeutics, founded in 2016 by molecular biologist John Mulligan, Ph.D., was acquired by Roche in 2022 for $250 million upfront plus potential milestone payments. Even better, Mulligan and company retained their platform and the ability to mine it for innovative drugs to fight cancer and other diseases. The potential for conditionally active protein technology is vast and could be game-changing for patients. Here’s a peek at how Good’s acquisition played out and what the future may hold for its spinout, Bonum Therapeutics.

Throughout my 25+ years in industry, whether I am advising startups or mentoring individuals interested in career transitions to business development, I am often asked about my approach to deal making.  Here I share some best practices for biotechs looking to partner an asset with pharma.  I still use this approach to make better decisions under pressure and to set realistic goals for deals, most recently as Chief Business Officer at Good Therapeutics from 2021 – 2022, where I co-led the successful completion of Good’s sale to Roche for $250 million plus deal-comparable milestones – one of the largest deals of 2022 for a preclinical asset.

I joined Good Therapeutics (now Bonum Therapeutics) in the summer of 2021. This was a marvelous opportunity to develop a new class of regulated cytokine therapeutics for cancer and autoimmune diseases. My prime directive was to build a team focused on protein production and characterization, with an aim to select stable “manufacturable” leads to move into clinical development.

Four years ago, I joined Bonum Therapeutics’ predecessor, Good Therapeutics, fascinated by the mechanistic concept developed by Founder and CEO John Mulligan. He envisioned an antibody-cytokine fusion protein, or immunocytokine, wherein the cytokine was selectively active when the antibody portion was bound to its target. This idea was appealing, as it would potentially allow the creation of cytokine therapeutics with conditional activity on specific cell types and populations. Immune agonists, including cytokines, have held particular interest for me throughout my career in cancer immunotherapy, and I’ve come to appreciate the unique challenges associated with their utilization.

Startup and privately held biotechnology companies with a broadly applicable technology face a market that awards higher valuations to assets than to platforms for drug discovery. Platform companies, therefore, face a fundamental problem — how to return money to investors in a reasonable time frame and simultaneously realize the appropriate value for their platform. In this article, we describe an approach that allowed Good Therapeutics to provide a tax-efficient return to investors while retaining ownership of the platform technology and a series of other potentially high-value programs. The corporate and deal structure is reproducible and can be used in a variety of settings when assets are more highly valued than the platform used for their creation.