Reed Jobs would rather talk about curing cancer than his last name

2026-07-12 · Source: TechCrunch · Field: Health & Wellbeing — Pharmaceuticals & Biotechnology, Medical Specialties & Subspecialties, Medical Devices & Health Technology · Depth: Intermediate, long

Summary

Reed Jobs' Yosemite, an oncology-focused venture firm launched in 2023, is actively building biotech companies from early academic research, leveraging a mix of philanthropy and investment capital. The firm, with a team of 17 and 25 portfolio companies, is raising a \$350 million second fund, dedicating a third to self-initiated ventures. Yosemite specializes exclusively in oncology, aiming to create new areas of medicine by de-risking nascent ideas with no-strings-attached grants. The biotech market has rebounded, driven by improved interest rates, a significant pharma patent cliff, and record cash reserves, leading to an acquisitive spree, exemplified by Eli Lilly's \$7 billion acquisition of Kelonia. AI is profoundly impacting drug discovery and clinical trial design, accelerating research and enabling the targeting of previously "undruggable" proteins like KRAS. Yosemite is also pursuing challenging targets such as p53 with multiple strategies and supports companies like Tune Therapeutics for epigenetic editing and Histosonics for noninvasive tumor destruction.

Key takeaway

For investors evaluating oncology ventures, Yosemite's model highlights the value of specialized focus and early-stage de-risking. You should prioritize firms that integrate philanthropic grants with venture capital to nurture groundbreaking academic research. Consider how AI's accelerating impact on drug discovery and clinical trials creates new opportunities, particularly for targeting historically challenging proteins. Your due diligence should assess a firm's ability to pioneer new therapeutic areas and navigate market shifts driven by patent cliffs and cash reserves.

Key insights

Yosemite leverages a hybrid funding model and AI to accelerate oncology drug discovery from early academic research.

Principles

• Deep specialization in oncology drives focused innovation.
• Philanthropic grants de-risk nascent scientific ideas.
• AI significantly speeds up drug discovery and clinical trials.

Method

Yosemite identifies early-stage academic oncology research, provides no-strings-attached grants for de-risking, then co-builds or invests in companies targeting novel mechanisms and "undruggable" proteins.

In practice

• Utilize AI for synthetic control arms in Phase 3 trials.
• Investigate epigenetic editing for gene expression modulation.
• Pursue therapies for historically challenging targets like p53.

Topics

• Oncology Venture Capital
• AI in Drug Discovery
• Clinical Trial Design
• Epigenetic Gene Editing
• Undruggable Targets
• Biotech Funding

Best for: Investor, Director of AI/ML, Entrepreneur

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Editorial summary, takeaway, and curation by AIssential. Original article published by TechCrunch.