A biotech firm that moved its headquarters to Cincinnati last year is raising millions in fresh funding as it continues to build out its portfolio and grow key operations in the city.
Orange Grove Bio, which calls University of Cincinnati’s 1819 Innovation Hub home, is looking to raise $30 million, per a filing in late August with U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The notice shows more than half, or $16.5 million has been sold to date, with roughly $13.4 million remaining.
Marc Appel, Orange Grove Bio’s CEO, declined comment. That’s typical since federal regulations restrict publicity during fundraising. He did say the company is “actively engaging” with other parties to enhance the round significantly.
Doing a “rolling close” means Orange Grove can start using some of the funds but continue receiving new investments.
As a venture firm/holding company, Orange Grove partners with universities, academic medical centers and entrepreneurs – outside the Boston and San Francisco ecosystems, considered more traditional biotech hubs – to spin out new treatments and technologies in areas like oncology, cellular and gene therapies, and autoimmune and inflammatory diseases.
Orange Grove currently has more than 50 partnerships across the country – including with UC and Cincinnati Children’s Hospital – and eight portfolio companies, all in various life stages of development. That count is ahead of internal expectations.
“We've had a good amount of success,” Appel told me. “Raising new capital will support our core operations and (our) current and future portfolio companies.”
Orange Grove Bio’s team has decades of drug development and company creation experience. The firm, founded in 2019, actively runs its portfolio companies, plugging in core team members to support development efforts and more.
Those include Eli Lilly-backed IpiNovyx Bio, a New York-based biopharma company developing treatments for autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. Orange Grove founded IpiNovyx in 2021 alongside its scientific founders, and Appel is currently its CEO. Another, Michigan-based Asalyxa Bio, which is developing microparticle-based immune cell targeting therapy, was co-founded in 2020 by Orange Grove Bio and University of Michigan scientists. Appel also heads that firm.
“Every company we take on, it's a big lift, so inherently, doing two or three new deals in a year is a really big accomplishment,” he said.
Orange Grove Bio moved its headquarters to Cincinnati from New York in November last year, the first out-of-state company to plant roots in the Cincinnati Innovation District. The move allows it direct access to the top research and commercialization talent in the region, including Cincinnati Children’s Hospital and UC Health. It has tapped prominent UC hematologist Dr. John Byrd as chair and inaugural member of its academic scientific advisory board.
Cincinnati is also a more centralized location. Orange Grove can more easily access cities like Chicago, Detroit, Pittsburgh, Lexington, Columbus and Cleveland – “places that collectively represent billions of dollars in federal funding,” Ryan Fox, Orange Grove Bio’s chief business operations officer, said.
Appel said the move has been “very productive.” Orange Grove has established great relationships with key partners throughout the city, he said, and will spend the next couple years engaging more with large institutions and agencies throughout Ohio.
Orange Grove’s current headcount in Cincinnati is around 40. The company continues to hire. It has an active intern program with several signed offers in hand.
“We've not had much trouble attracting good talent, despite all the macro conditions, because what we're doing is pretty unique especially in the Midwest,” he said. “We’re the player filling that niche.”
