Derek Dirocco

Partner at RA Capital Management, L.P.

📍 Boston, Massachusetts, United States🔄 Updated October 2026💼 8 investments📅 8 years investing🗓 Last invested Aug 2024
VC🌍 United States
8
Total investments
3
Early stage
0
Mid stage
1
Late stage
8y
Years active

Portfolio

6 investments · sorted by recency
All investments
Early stage
Mid stage
Late stage
Board Observer
Aug 2024
Navigator Medicines is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company leading the advancement of biologics for targeted immune regulation & restoration. Founded in 2024, as a subsidiary of Sera Medicines, through a $100M Series A financing, co-led by RA Capital Management and Forbion, the Company is committed to developing new therapies for patients living with complex, heterogeneous autoimmune diseases.
Board Observer
May 2021
Interius is a clinical stage biotechnology company, engineering targeted, programmable vectors for the precision delivery of genetic medicines to treat an array of challenging diseases.
Board Observer
Mar 2020
Vaxcyte is a vaccine innovation company engineering high-fidelity vaccines to protect humankind from the consequences of bacterial diseases. VAX-31, a 31-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV) candidate being evaluated in the OPUS Phase 3 adult clinical program and in a Phase 2 infant clinical program, is being developed for the prevention of invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD) and is the broadest-spectrum PCV candidate in the clinic today. VAX-24, a 24-valent PCV candidate, is designed to cover more serotypes than any infant PCV on-market. VAX-31 and VAX-24 are designed to improve upon standard-of-care PCVs by covering the serotypes in circulation that cause a significant portion of IPD and are associated with high case-fatality rates, antibiotic resistance and meningitis, while maintaining coverage of previously circulating strains. VAX-XL, in earlier-stage development, also leverages the Company’s carrier-sparing, site-specific conjugation technology with the aim of further expanding coverage to deliver the broadest-spectrum candidate in the Company’s PCV franchise. Vaxcyte is re-engineering the way highly complex vaccines are made through XpressCF®, its cell-free protein synthesis platform exclusively licensed from Sutro Biopharma, Inc. Unlike conventional cell-based approaches, the Company’s system for producing difficult-to-make proteins and antigens is intended to accelerate its ability to develop high-fidelity vaccines with enhanced immunological benefits. Vaxcyte’s pipeline also includes VAX-A1, a prophylactic vaccine candidate designed to prevent Group A Strep infections, and VAX-GI, a vaccine candidate designed to prevent Shigella.
Board Observer
Jun 2019
Frontier Medicines, located in South San Francisco, CA and Boston, MA, is a precision medicine company that has pioneered a powerful discovery and development platform designed to generate medicines against disease-causing proteins previously considered undruggable. We are deploying our technologies in chemoproteomics, covalent drug discovery, and machine learning to develop a pipeline of groundbreaking medicines against the most important drivers of disease. Our lead program targets both the activated and inactive forms of KRAS G12C, a validated driver in a number of cancers that until recently has been undruggable. Our pipeline embodies our vision of bolding advancing science to defeat disease, starting with cancer.
Board Observer
Dec 2018
Black Diamond Therapeutics is a clinical-stage oncology company developing MasterKey therapies that target families of oncogenic mutations, expanding the addressable patient population by offering one solution for many mutations. Our mission: defeat cancer resistance and provide people living with cancer the opportunity to experience longer, healthier and more active lives. We are advancing two potent, brain-penetrant clinical-stage programs: BDTX-1535, a fourth-generation EGFR inhibitor targeting non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and glioblastoma (GBM) and BDTX-4933, a RAF inhibitor targeting KRAS, NRAS and BRAF alterations in NSCLC and other solid tumors.
Board Observer
May 2018
Xenikos is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on developing a novel therapy that aims to quickly and efficiently reset the immune system of patients suffering from serious immune diseases, or rejection after transplantation. The Company’s lead product candidate, T-Guard®, is currently in Phase 3 development for the treatment of steroid-refractory acute graft-versus-host disease (SR-aGVHD). Based on its mechanism of action, Xenikos believes T-Guard also has the potential to be effective in treating certain other serious immune conditions, such as transplant-related rejection, solid-organ rejection and several severe autoimmune diseases.
Experience · 9 entries
All (9)
Investments (8)
Board (8)
2024
Board Observer
Aug 2024
Navigator Medicines is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company leading the advancement of biologics for targeted immune regulation & restoration. Founded in 2024, as a subsidiary of Sera Medicines, through a $100M Series A financing, co-led by RA Capital Management and Forbion, the Company is committed to developing new therapies for patients living with complex, heterogeneous autoimmune diseases.
2022
Board Observer
Jul 2022
Carmot Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biotechnology company that is focused on the discovery and development of disease-modifying therapies for people living with metabolic diseases including obesity and diabetes. We are utilizing Chemotype Evolution, a pioneering drug discovery platform, to identify novel incretin receptor signaling targets to develop a broad pipeline of therapeutics that have the potential to produce significant weight loss and improved glycemic control. We have three clinical candidates: CT-388, CT-868 and CT-996.
2021
Board Observer
May 2021
Interius is a clinical stage biotechnology company, engineering targeted, programmable vectors for the precision delivery of genetic medicines to treat an array of challenging diseases.
2020
Partner
Dec 2020
Founded in 2004, RA Capital Management is a multi-stage investment manager dedicated to evidence-based investing in public and private healthcare, life sciences, and planetary health companies. RA Capital creates and funds innovative companies, from private seed rounds to public follow-on financings, allowing management teams to drive value creation from inception through commercialization and beyond. RA Capitals knowledge engine is guided by our TechAtlas internal research division, and Raven, RA Capital’s company building team, offers entrepreneurs and innovators a collaborative and comprehensive platform to explore the novel and the re-imagined. RA Capital has more than 150 employees and over $10 billion in assets under management.
Board Observer
Mar 2020
Vaxcyte is a vaccine innovation company engineering high-fidelity vaccines to protect humankind from the consequences of bacterial diseases. VAX-31, a 31-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV) candidate being evaluated in the OPUS Phase 3 adult clinical program and in a Phase 2 infant clinical program, is being developed for the prevention of invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD) and is the broadest-spectrum PCV candidate in the clinic today. VAX-24, a 24-valent PCV candidate, is designed to cover more serotypes than any infant PCV on-market. VAX-31 and VAX-24 are designed to improve upon standard-of-care PCVs by covering the serotypes in circulation that cause a significant portion of IPD and are associated with high case-fatality rates, antibiotic resistance and meningitis, while maintaining coverage of previously circulating strains. VAX-XL, in earlier-stage development, also leverages the Company’s carrier-sparing, site-specific conjugation technology with the aim of further expanding coverage to deliver the broadest-spectrum candidate in the Company’s PCV franchise. Vaxcyte is re-engineering the way highly complex vaccines are made through XpressCF®, its cell-free protein synthesis platform exclusively licensed from Sutro Biopharma, Inc. Unlike conventional cell-based approaches, the Company’s system for producing difficult-to-make proteins and antigens is intended to accelerate its ability to develop high-fidelity vaccines with enhanced immunological benefits. Vaxcyte’s pipeline also includes VAX-A1, a prophylactic vaccine candidate designed to prevent Group A Strep infections, and VAX-GI, a vaccine candidate designed to prevent Shigella.
Show all 9 entries ↓
Investment activity
2018–2024 · 8 investments
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