This morning it’s the newly born HilleVax — a creation of Takeda and Frazier Healthcare Partners, where Tachi Yamada was respectively CSO and a longtime partner — that’s taking a big step forward to late-stage testing of its norovirus vaccine with a $135 million crossover megaraise. HilleVax CEO Rob Hershberg — who became Celgene CSO and BD chief after they bought out his earlier startup, VentiRx — is at the helm. And the startup crew has attracted some star talent to the board of what will remain a relatively small, closely focused biotech team looking to take the long, traditional route to a vaccine approval.
