Fate Therapeutics is using the fundamental biological mechanisms that guide cell fate to develop stem cell therapeutics. The company has brought together the foremost scientists from the nation’s research hotbeds (Boston, San Francisco, San Diego and Seattle) who have demonstrated the potential to create and modulate stem cells to restore health.

The backstory is that while others were working towards therapies based on transplanting stem cell-derived cells into patients, Randall Moon (HHMI and University of Washington) and Alex Rives (Arch Venture Capitol) envisioned a different approach to develop regenerative therapies. The concept, based on data from hematopoietic progenitor cells, was that one could modulate the properties of stem cells in vivo using small molecules or biologics. They presented this idea to Arch Venture Capitol in Seattle, which launched the company, soon to be joined by other investors.