The majority of treatments for autoimmune diseases have a simple hypothesis: If the immune system is flaring up, attack its defenses and tamp it down. But startup Padlock Therapeutics has a novel approach it believes could cut in on the inflammatory process before things get so dire, and the biotech has $23 million in fresh cash to explore the idea. Read more.

I thought I was done with immunology. I’m not formally trained as an immunologist, but I fell for it hard back in graduate school, when immunology was leading the molecular biology revolution. Read more.

An Atlas Venture-backed startup that’s developing drugs for various metabolic diseases reached a milestone this week in a partnership that’s totally unrelated to drug discovery — one with the agricultural biotech giant, Monsanto. Read more.

Over the past two weeks in LifeSciVC, I read with great interest and appreciation the blogs of two friends of mine – Bill Marshall and Ankit Mahadevia – as they offered useful perspective on the most powerful tool we have as leaders – company culture.

I am a big believer in working hard at creating the best possible culture for one’s team, so last week, I was deeply honored to see my company recognized as one of the ‘Best Places to Work’ in the state of Pennsylvania.

Read more.

It’s that time of year again: Santa is preparing his list of naughty and nice biotech management teams, and taking his recommendations to the Compensation Committee. Read more.