Why Owning the Learning Loop Matters More Than Owning the Lab

By Abbas Kazimi, CEO of Nimbus Therapeutics, as part of the From The Trenches feature of LifeSciVC

In early 2009, when global markets were bottoming out, you can imagine what it felt like walking the halls of the JPM Healthcare Conference. Biotech felt fragile. Capital was scarce, pipelines were thin, and more than a few investors were quietly asking whether the venture model in drug discovery even worked anymore.

That was also the moment when a small group of firms, Atlas Venture included, were sketching a different kind of biotech on whiteboards with lawyers and scientists. Not a fully integrated pharma. Not a lab-heavy roll up. But a…