August 27, 2025

Third Rock tops STAT's annual VC ranking

Among biotech venture capital firms, Third Rock Venture has generated the best returns on its investments in 2024 and 2025, according to STAT's annual VC rankings report.

Third Rock routinely tripled investors' money, far more than many other firms.

The returns came even as the biotech industry has faced persistent economic uncertainty over the past few years. And companies now have new anxieties —the federal government has cut funding for scientific research, potentially jeopardizing research that could lead to new biotech startups.

Read more from STAT's Allison DeAngelis. And to see the full VC report, go here.

(The report gives an unfettered view into biotech VC firms' investing successes or shortcomings, sharing financial figures that are rarely seen by the public. The report, which was designed by STAT and hasn't been replicated elsewhere, ranks 22 prominent biotech venture firms based on their returns.)

oncology

Summit, Akeso therapy improved patient survival

Ivonescimab, the cancer treatment developed by Chinese biotech Akeso and its partner Summit Therapeutics, has been shown for the first time to improve patient survival.

In a Phase 3 trial conducted in China called HARMONi-A, ivonescimab demonstrated a statistically significant survival benefit as a second-line treatment when combined with chemotherapy to treat non-small cell lung cancers.

An analyst said this bodes well for a global Phase 3 study called HARMONi. An interim analysis of the trial announced earlier this year showed that the drug combined with chemo delayed tumor progression as a second-line treatment, but did not lead to a statistically significant reduction in the risk of death.

science

Harvard funding cuts are jeopardizing a program researching undiagnosed diseases

The Trump administration's withdrawal of funding to Harvard University is threatening a research group aiming to find the cause of undiagnosed health issues, the Boston Globe reports.

The group, called the Undiagnosed Diseases Network and coordinated through Harvard Medical School, has had nearly $7 million of its grant money suspended. Grants supporting some of the networks clinical sites haven't been touched, but the centers that conduct animal-based research and that connect patients with the right scientists are affected.

The group originally started as a program at the NIH and has been considered a massive success. NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya even highlighted it in his recent budget justification letter to Congress.