Casdin Capital Research
Investment Thesis
Casdin Capital is a New York-based investment firm founded in 2011 by Eli Casdin, exclusively dedicated to the life sciences sector. The firm describes itself as one of the few specialist investors with decades of participation and practice in life sciences, and frames its philosophy around three principles: take aim at big markets, invest in great ideas and great teams, and stay focused while avoiding hubris. Casdin's approach traces back to a molecular medicine investment roadmap Eli Casdin authored in the mid-2000s, "The Dawn of Molecular Medicine," which anticipated how genomics and data infrastructure would transform healthcare delivery. The firm believes durable returns in life sciences require patience, persistence, and deep scientific and clinical relationships rather than short-term trading.
Sector Focus
Casdin invests across four connected areas: healthcare (molecular medicine and precision-based therapies), biotechnology (genomics, life science tools, diagnostics, and drug development), synthetic biology (agriculture, livestock management, and specialty chemicals), and enabling technology (data capture, storage, and processing platforms for life sciences). This gives the firm exposure to both therapeutics-focused biotech and adjacent diagnostics, genomics infrastructure, and synbio/agtech applications of the same underlying science.
Stage Focus and Structure
Casdin operates as a crossover investor rather than a pure-play venture fund: it runs a public equity long/short strategy alongside private investments spanning early- to late-stage and growth-stage life sciences companies. Portfolio composition includes public biotech holdings disclosed via 13F filings (e.g., Verve Therapeutics, Relay Therapeutics, Illumina, Sarepta Therapeutics, Blueprint Medicines) as well as private financings from Series A through growth rounds. Typical check size is not publicly disclosed.
Lead Tendency
Publicly available deal reporting shows Casdin most often participating alongside other specialist life sciences investors (e.g., ARCH Venture Partners, Regeneron Ventures, Fidelity Management & Research, Viking Global) rather than a clearly documented pattern of solely leading rounds, so lead tendency is best characterized as unknown/mixed based on available sources.
Recent Activity
Casdin remains an active investor into 2026. It participated in City Therapeutics' $99.5M Series B financing (announced June 8, 2026) to advance the company's next-generation RNAi engineering platform, alongside ARCH Venture Partners, Fidelity, Regeneron Ventures, Viking Global, Sofinnova, and others. Third-party trackers report roughly 3 new investments in 2026 to date and 5 in 2025, with continued exposure to Flare Therapeutics and other clinical-stage biotechs. As a registered investment adviser, Casdin reported approximately $2.87B in assets under management, with prior public disclosures showing AUM in the $1.6B-$3.5B range across 2020-2025 as public and private allocations shifted.
Portfolio Highlights
Casdin's 14-year track record spans more than 150 companies and dozens of realized outcomes. Notable public/exited names include 23andMe, Adaptive Biotechnologies, Recursion Pharmaceuticals, Ginkgo Bioworks, GeneDx, Exact Sciences, Invitae, Century Therapeutics, and Relay Therapeutics. Active private portfolio names include Thyme Care, Formation Bio, LetsGetChecked, 2seventy bio, City Therapeutics, and Flare Therapeutics. Third-party sources credit the portfolio with dozens of unicorn-scale outcomes concentrated in biotech/life sciences and health tech.
Team
Casdin is organized around a dedicated investment/research team led by founder and CIO Eli Casdin, supported by Suzanne Angell (Director of Therapeutics Research) and Shaun Rodriguez, PhD (Director of Life Science Research), plus a bench of research analysts and associates. Operations are run by Bernie Cooney (Senior Managing Director), Lawrence Canzoneri (CFO), Alexandria Fisk (COO), Steve Giordano (General Counsel), and Angelo Crupi (Chief Compliance Officer). Kelly Axsom, MD serves as Chief Medical Officer, and Randy White leads business development and investor relations. The firm also maintains a scientific advisory board including physician-scientists such as William G. Kaelin Jr., MD (Nobel laureate) and Kiran Musunuru.
Decision Process
Given the size and structure of the research, operations, and compliance teams, Casdin appears to run a partnership/committee-style investment process rather than a solo-GP model, with dedicated scientific and clinical diligence roles feeding investment decisions.
Founder Preferences
Casdin's public materials emphasize backing great ideas and great teams in big markets, consistent with a preference for scientifically rigorous founding teams tackling large, underserved indications or platform opportunities in genomics, precision medicine, and synthetic biology.
Geographic Focus
Casdin is headquartered in New York (1350 Avenue of the Americas) and invests primarily in US-based life sciences companies, consistent with its public and private portfolio composition.