Boston-based Third Rock Ventures has unveiled a new company, Ember Therapeutics, a product-focused company that’s trying to harness breakthroughs in brown fat biology and insulin sensitization to revolutionize the treatment of metabolic disease. Third Rock, a venture firm that helps incubate life sciences companies, has given Ember $34 million in Series A financing. PRESS RELEASE: BOSTON, Dec [...]

Agios Pharmaceuticals, a Cambridge, Mass.-based developer of drugs to treat cancer, has sealed a whopping $78 million in fresh capital. The company did not disclose all investors in the Series C round, but said that publicly traded Celgene participated, as did existing backers ARCH Venture Partners, Flagship Ventures and Third Rock Ventures.

Allena Pharmaceuticals Inc., a company developing oral protein therapeutics, has raised $15 million in a first round of venture funding. Bessemer Venture Partners, Frazier Healthcare and Third Rock Ventures led the Series A round. The funding will help fund development. Allena Pharmaceuticals is based in Newton, Mass.

Third Rock Ventures has launched SAGE Therapeutics with a $35 million Series A financing. SAGE’s efforts focus on advancing a pipeline of new, critically needed treatments for some of the most disabling central nervous system (CNS) disorders such as schizophrenia, depression, pain and traumatic brain injury (TBI).

Third Rock Ventures, Prospect Venture Partners and Yasuda Enterprise Development Corp. have poured $27 million into privately held biotechnology company TOPICA Pharmaceuticals. The Series B round will be used for continued development of the company’s broad-spectrum topical antifungal agent, the company said Tuesday.

Foundation Medicine Inc., a Cambridge, Mass.-based cancer diagnostics company, has added to its Series A financing, closing the round with $33.5 million. New investors Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and Google Ventures join Third Rock Ventures in the round. Brook Byers, a partner with Kleiner Perkins, and Google Ventures’ Krishna Yeshwant will join Foundation Medicine’s board.

Cambridge, Mass.-based pharmaceutical company Zafgen Inc., which is developing novel obesity therapeutics, has closed on $33 million in Series C financing. Existing shareholders are leading the round, including Atlas Venture and Third Rock Ventures. The money will help support development of Zafgen’s pipeline and to advance its lead treatment for severe obesity into Phase 2 clinical studies.

Cautious might best describe CalPERS’ current approach to venture capital. Cautious, with one big exception for Vinod Khosla. The California Public Employees’ Retirement System has been a steady investor in venture capital over the past decade or so, according to portfolio data it posts online. The most current update of its holdings, dating to Dec. [...]

Lotus Tissue Repair Inc. has raised $26 million in a Series A round led by Third Rock Ventures. The company is developing technology to be used in the treatment of dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa, “an orphan disease that causes devastating skin blisters, morbidity and early mortality,” the company said in a release. The infusion of cash will be used to continue development.

Constellation Pharmaceuticals has raised $15 million in an extension to its Series B round, the company announced Monday. Third Rock Ventures, The Column Group, Venrock Associates, SR One and Altitude Life Science Ventures – all existing shareholders – participated in the round. The latest infusion will help Constellation move its products toward clinical development. The company develops small molecule therapeutics for the treatment of cancer, inflammatory and immunologic disorders and other diseases.