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Accelerating Treatments Toward a Cure for Celiac Disease
What is Beyond Celiac Investments?
Despite promising science, emerging celiac therapies have historically struggled to attract sufficient investor and market attention.
BCI was created to change that.
“I know firsthand the social, emotional, and medical burden this disease puts on patients and families. We can find a better solution, and BCI will help get us there faster.”
– BCI Managing Director, Turner Jenkins
Beyond Celiac Investments (BCI) is the first venture philanthropy fund dedicated exclusively to advancing treatments towards a cure for celiac disease.
About BCI
Founded by Beyond Celiac in 2024, BCI exists to catalyze investment, accelerate therapeutic development, and transform the future for the millions of people living with celiac disease.
The journey began in 2017, when former Cystic Fibrosis Foundation (CFF) President and CEO Bob Beall, pioneer of CFF’s groundbreaking venture philanthropy model, joined the Beyond Celiac Board of Directors.
We invest donated capital into companies developing the most promising celiac disease therapies—and provide the expertise, resources, and credibility needed to:
- De-risk programs
- Navigate regulatory and clinical pathways
- Attract additional private capital
- Accelerate progress toward approval
Our goal is simple: move treatments to patients faster.
Leadership & Expertise
Through Beyond Celiac’s unparalleled leadership and reputation we continue to address celiac’s unmet challenges and are helping advance treatments towards a cure for everyone with the disease.
Developing solutions for people with celiac disease takes more than capital. That’s why we have built a multidisciplinary team and ecosystem for all facets of therapeutic development.
Our mission-aligned and dedicated team brings decades of biopharmaceutical experience across:
- Drug development and regulatory approvals
- Life science venture investing
- Clinical development in gastrointestinal disease
- C-level leadership in biotech and pharma
Many members of our team personally manage celiac disease or support family members living with it—reinforcing our urgency and commitment.
Meet our Mission-Aligned Investment Committee
Alice Bast
Founder
Jordan Dubow
MD, Chief Medical Officer
Debra Silberg
MD, PhD, FACG,
Chief Scientific Officer
The BCI Approach
Working with urgency, we employ venture investment best practices to source, evaluate, and fund companies that serve Beyond Celiac’s mission.
There are multiple approaches toward treatments for celiac disease and we are actively investing to explore many different types of modalities and approaches, with a preference for equity investments.
Returns from the venture philanthropy program are recycled to improve the quality of life for our community supporting further BCI investments or initiatives, thereby compounding the initial donations.
The Time is Now
Celiac disease affects over 3 million Americans and is the only autoimmune disease with a known trigger: gluten—yet there are no approved pharmaceutical treatments.
Today, the only standard of care is a strict, lifelong gluten-free diet.
This approach leaves many patients with:
Persistent symptoms due to accidental gluten exposure
Imperfect disease control
Serious comorbidities
Reduced quality of life and social isolation
Even brief gluten exposure can cause symptoms lasting days to months, with long-term health consequences.
A Patient-Centered Platform
Everything we do is centered on the celiac community we serve.
BCI leverages Beyond Celiac’s unparalleled leadership and reputation:
- Internal scientific, research, development, regulatory and investment expertise
- A network of venture capital advisors and industry partners
- Deep understanding of celiac disease biology, patients, and clinical burden
This powerful platform enables us to support portfolio companies well beyond capital—serving as an active thought partner for companies and investors.
By supporting high-potential programs early, BCI helps unlock progress not only for celiac disease, but potentially across autoimmune conditions more broadly.
Portfolio
Focuses on editing the human leukocyte antigen (HLA), or “immune gene,” to develop one-time, curative cell and gene therapies.
Focused on preserving, regenerating, and modulating thymic function to address immune diseases and increase healthspan.