Loading organizations...
§ Private Profile · Cambridge, MA, USA
Clinical-stage nanomedicine company developing targeted nanoparticles for oncology, focused on precise drug delivery.
BIND Therapeutics was a Cambridge, Massachusetts-based clinical-stage nanomedicine company that developed targeted polymeric nanoparticles called Accurins to deliver therapeutics directly to diseased cells. The biotechnology firm raised over $100 million in private venture funding before completing a $70 million initial public offering in 2013. Throughout its operational history, the enterprise established strategic research collaborations with major pharmaceutical corporations, including Pfizer, AstraZeneca, and Amgen, to co-develop specialized oncology treatments. Backed by institutional investors such as Flagship Ventures and ARCH Venture Partners, the business ultimately filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in May 2016 following clinical trial setbacks and mounting debt obligations. Later that year, Pfizer acquired the company's core research assets for approximately $40 million in a bankruptcy auction. BIND Therapeutics was founded in 2006 by Robert Langer and Omid Farokhzad.
BIND Therapeutics has raised $56.0M across 4 funding rounds.
BIND Therapeutics has raised $56.0M in total across 4 funding rounds.
BIND Therapeutics has raised $56.0M across 4 funding rounds. Most recently, it raised $25.0M Other Equity in October 2011.
| Date | Round | Lead Investors | Other Investors | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 27, 2011 | $25M Venture Round | Anatoly Chubais | ARCH Venture Partners, DHK Investments, Endeavour Vision, Noubar Afeyan, Leukon Investments, NanoDimension, OrbiMed, Polaris Partners | Announced |
| Jun 1, 2010 | $12M Series C | — | ARCH Venture Partners, Flagship Ventures, NanoDimension, Polaris Partners, DHK Investments, Endeavour Vision, Flagship Ventures, NanoDimension, Polaris Partners | Announced |
| Nov 1, 2007 | $16M Series B | — | ARCH Venture Partners, Flagship Ventures, NanoDimension, Polaris Partners | Announced |
| Feb 1, 2007 | $3M Series A | — | Flagship Ventures, Polaris Partners | Announced |
BIND Therapeutics has raised $56.0M in total across 4 funding rounds.
BIND Therapeutics's investors include Anatoly Chubais, ARCH Venture Partners, DHK Investments, Endeavour Vision, Noubar Afeyan, Leukon Investments, NanoDimension, OrbiMed, Polaris Partners, Flagship Ventures.
# BIND Therapeutics: A Biopharmaceutical Pioneer in Nanomedicine
BIND Therapeutics is a biopharmaceutical company, not a technology company in the traditional sense, though it leverages advanced medicinal nanoengineering technology as its core platform.[1] The company was founded to develop Accurins®, a novel class of targeted and programmable therapeutics designed to concentrate therapeutic payloads at disease sites by targeting specific cells and tissues.[2] BIND's mission centered on solving a fundamental problem in drug development: how to deliver medicines more effectively to diseased tissues while minimizing side effects. The company primarily focused on oncology, cardiovascular disorders, inflammatory disease, and RNAi therapeutics, positioning itself at the intersection of chemistry and nanotechnology to enable faster, more cost-effective drug development.[1]
BIND was founded in 2007 by researchers with expertise in targeted nanoparticles, based in Cambridge, Massachusetts.[2][5] The company emerged during a period of growing interest in nanomedicine as a solution to drug delivery challenges. In 2013, BIND achieved a significant milestone by raising over $70 million in an IPO, validating investor confidence in its platform approach.[2] However, the company's trajectory shifted dramatically when it initiated voluntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on May 1, 2016, following challenges in clinical development and commercialization.[3] This led to a Section 363 asset auction where Pfizer acquired substantially all of BIND's assets for $40 million in July 2016.[3]
BIND's competitive advantages centered on its proprietary platform:
BIND represented an important trend in early-2010s biotechnology: the shift toward platform-based drug development rather than single-asset companies. The company rode the wave of nanomedicine enthusiasm, which promised to solve long-standing drug delivery problems. Its collaborations with major pharma demonstrated how smaller biotech firms could serve as innovation engines for larger companies seeking novel approaches to difficult therapeutic challenges.
However, BIND's ultimate acquisition by Pfizer also reflects the harsh realities of biotech: platform promise does not guarantee commercial success. The company's bankruptcy and asset sale illustrate how even well-funded, well-connected biotech ventures face significant execution risks in translating scientific innovation into approved medicines.
BIND's story ended as a Pfizer acquisition, meaning the company no longer operates independently. Its assets and technology were absorbed into Pfizer's portfolio, where the Accurins® platform could potentially benefit from larger-scale resources and commercial infrastructure. The company's trajectory—from promising IPO to bankruptcy to acquisition—serves as a cautionary tale about the gap between technological innovation and market viability in biopharmaceuticals, while also demonstrating how platform technologies can retain value even when the original company structure fails.