Westlake Village BioPartners Launches Inaugural Fund With $320 Million

Palo Alto – September 17, 2018 – Cooley advised Westlake Village BioPartners on the launch of its first fund with $320 million in committed capital. The new firm will exclusively invest in the life sciences sector. Cooley partner John Clendenin headed the team advising Westlake.  

Westlake Village BioPartners is a Los Angeles area-based venture capital firm focused on incubating and building life sciences companies with entrepreneurs that have the potential to bring transformative therapies and technologies to patients. 

The founding team includes industry veterans Beth Seidenberg, MD, and Sean Harper, MD. Seidenberg is managing director at Kleiner Perkins and former chief medical officer and head of global development at Amgen. Harper is executive vice president and head of research & development at Amgen, and he will move to the firm in January 2019. Scott Ryles of Kleiner Perkins will be Westlake’s chief operating officer. The Westlake model is built on the founding team’s unique experience in successfully identifying and developing breakthrough therapies and building organizations, which has included past investments in ARMO, Arresto, Atara, Cell Design Labs, iPierian, Epizyme, Flexus, TESARO and True North.  

“Sean and I have known each other for more than 20 years and bring unique insights and expertise from our time in the drug discovery and development industry, providing the perfect shared history upon which to build Westlake,” said Dr. Seidenberg in a news release. “We look forward to sharing more information about the fund and our investment priorities in the coming months.”

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