# Disc Medicine

Disc Medicine is an Asset Manager based in Watertown, United States.

## Overview

- **Organization type:** Asset Manager
- **Headquarters:** Watertown, United States
- **Region:** North America
- **Address:** Watertown, MA, United States
- **Founded:** 2017
- **Assets under management:** Undisclosed
- **Website:** discmedicine.com
- **LinkedIn:** https://www.linkedin.com/company/disc-medicine

## Regulatory record

- **Reports private funds:** No

## About

John Quisel co-founded Disc Medicine in 2017 alongside Brian MacDonald, structuring the company around a pipeline built to modulate heme synthesis and iron metabolism. The wealth origin is conventional public markets — Disc trades on Nasdaq, not as a family office or private partnership. Its founding thesis rested on an acquisition from Roche, gaining global rights to bitopertin for erythropoietic protoporphyria. Disc deploys capital exclusively through internal drug development rather than fund commitments. The pipeline spans three clinical programs: bitopertin in a Phase 3 registrational trial for erythropoietic protoporphyria, DISC-0974, an anti-hemojuvelin monoclonal antibody for anemia of myelofibrosis, and DISC-3405, an anti-TMPRSS6 antibody for polycythemia vera. The Roche deal plus a separate collaboration with AbbVie on antibody discovery provides named co-investor and counterparty context. Trials enroll patients across the United States and Europe. The firm operates from Watertown, Massachusetts, with a lean team led by Quisel and scientific founder MacDonald. Adjacent vehicles include a convertible note offering that closed in early 2024. The firm completed an upsized public offering in June 2024, raising approximately $178 million to extend cash runway into 2027. No operating businesses, real-asset arms, or membership networks are disclosed. Disc differs structurally from most biotech startups by concentrating on a single biological axis — heme and iron biology — across three distinct programs, rather than diversifying across therapeutic areas. This creates a focused regulatory and scientific profile uncommon even among public biotech peers. Governance rests with Quisel, a former Acceleron executive, giving the firm a steady operational hand without venture-style fund cycles.

## Sectors

- Healthcare Services
- Biotechnology

## People

- John Quisel — Chief Executive Officer
- Brian MacDonald — Chief Innovation Officer
- Joanne Bryce — Chief Financial Officer

## Questions

### Who runs investment and strategic decisions at Disc Medicine?

John Quisel, CEO and co-founder, directs corporate strategy alongside Brian MacDonald, Chief Innovation Officer. Quisel previously served as a senior executive at Acceleron Pharma, which Bristol Myers Squibb acquired for $11.5 billion in 2021. The board includes venture investors from Atlas Venture and OrbiMed, but strategic control sits with the management team.

### How does Disc Medicine allocate its capital?

Disc invests entirely in its own clinical-stage drug programs. It does not make fund commitments, co-investments alongside external GPs, or passive treasury allocations. Cash is deployed toward Phase 1 through Phase 3 trial execution, regulatory filings, and manufacturing scale-up for three internal assets sourced from Roche and AbbVie partnerships.

### Where does Disc Medicine source its drug candidates?

The lead program, bitopertin, was licensed from Roche, which developed it initially for schizophrenia. Disc acquired global rights and redirected the molecule toward erythropoietic protoporphyria. Two later-stage antibodies originated from an AbbVie discovery partnership. The firm does not license externally for all assets — its internal team develops clinical strategy and trial design for each program.

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Last updated: 2026-06-03T20:00:00.000Z

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