Next Phase Newsletter

The fund is an evergreen strategic venture capital fund of a Big Pharma, which closed at $100 million in 2013 and is managed by a small, dedicated team based in Cambridge, Massachusetts and Palo Alto, California. The fund focuses on investments in companies developing pioneering bioelectronic medicines/ neuromodulation device and related enabling technologies. The initial investments are typically ranging from $5-$7 million in Series A, and the fund will also consider follow-on investments. The fund looks for investment opportunities globally.

The fund is a fund dedicated to advancing bioelectronic medicines and is looking to invest in high-return opportunities in three areas: (1) Teams pursuing new therapies for existing peripheral neurostimulation devices. (2) Teams developing novel bioelectronic medicine technologies for existing neurostimulation therapies. (3) Companies introducing advanced technologies that are enabling for bioelectronics medicines. The firm is particularly interested in improved neural interfaces, novel power sources and wireless powering technology, ultra-low power chip architectures, sensors that can close-the-loop for adaptive therapies and new implantation and imaging methods. The fund is stage agnostic.

The fund typically will take board of directors or board observer seat, but it is not necessary. The fund exclusively invests in privately-held companies and primarily in pre-revenue companies.

If you are interested in more information about this investor and other investors tracked by LSN, please email RESI@lifesciencenation.com.

The pharmaceutical company is based in Korea. The company’s current marketing portfolio are mostly made of branded products licensed in from overseas partners. For the R&D activity, the company has several clinical pipelines under global phase II in the area of CNS and diabetes, CNS clinical pipeline under phase III in Korea, and a late preclinical stage oncology product as well as an early preclinical candidates targeting TEC kinase family developed in-house. The company is actively searching for innovative candidates and products around the world to incorporate into its pipeline and product portfolio. The firm has ample experience across various types of partnerships with overseas companies and is flexible in terms of the business structure. The firm is interested globally, including world-wide major territories.

The company is currently seeking promising novel therapeutic candidates to incorporate into its pipeline. In terms of indications, the firm is indication agnostic with added interest in movement disorders, CNS, liver disease and immunology. The company is also interested in oncology indications (small molecule or biologics with novel MoA). The firm prefers assets both in early/late non-clinical development stage as well as in early clinical development stage. The firm is also interested in obtaining distribution rights for innovative treatment in Phase III or in marketing authorization process.

The company is open to working with companies anywhere in the world, and has no set requirements for partners; The company is able to work with virtual drug companies by leveraging the firm’s own capabilities and third party relationships.

If you are interested in more information about this investor and other investors tracked by LSN, please email RESI@lifesciencenation.com.

A venture capital firm founded in 2002 is looking to invest in tech-based digital health and diagnostics companies looking to expand to the Chinese market. Ascend primarily invests in European companies, but will consider companies based in the US as well. The firm looks to leverage their connections to China and the Chinese market on behalf of its portfolio companies. The firm looks to invest between $2-10M in companies, taking a 15-30% equity stake. The firm prefers to be a lead investor, taking an active role in their portfolio companies, and will invest in about 2 companies a year, depending on their fund cycle. In cases where Ascend does not invest funds, they are also willing to offer consulting services for equity, connecting companies with strategic partners in China.

The firm has an additional partnership model that, instead of direct investment, licenses technologies through a Chinese platform company, acting as a focused distributor for entry into the Chinese market. This is Ascend’s alternate investment approach to bringing these technologies to the Chinese market, by utilizing this Chinese platform company to serve as their portfolio company’s representative in China to navigate the regulatory environment and spearhead all of the sales and marketing.

The firm is interested in tech companies that are not consumer focused. The firm looks for companies such as diagnostics tools or AI/machine learning technologies in the healthcare space. The firm has some experience with pathology diagnostic related companies, but is willing to consider other areas as well. The firm prefers to invest in a few companies within the same area, choosing complementary technologies between their portfolio companies. Ascend will consider companies with technologies that are in development or in pilot stages.

The firm is an active investor and takes a board seat for every company in which they invest.

If you are interested in more information about this investor and other investors tracked by LSN, please email RESI@lifesciencenation.com.

A medical technology venture firm was founded in 2013 and based in Concord, MA. The firm makes equity investments in early stage companies developing diagnostic technologies to accelerate the trend of precision medicine. The firm seeks a leading investment position and deep involvement with its portfolio companies. Typical investment ranges from $5-15 M and is calibrated to milestone attainment. With a global view and global operational capabilities, the firm is currently seeking opportunities around the world.

The firm focuses on three market segments that support knowledge-generating precision medicine diagnosis: 1) mobile health, data analytics, and healthcare IT; 2) high specificity in-vivo and in-vitro diagnostics; and 3) diagnostic technologies that guide or are a companion to precision therapies. The firm is looking for technologies that will dramatically improve patient health and have the potential for global markets and scale.

The firm is looking for experienced management teams with deep domain expertise. The firm typically requests board representation post-investment.

If you are interested in more information about this investor and other investors tracked by LSN, please email RESI@lifesciencenation.com.

A venture capital firm was founded in 2016 and has its main office in Shanghai, China. The firm currently manages three funds including RMB Fund I and Fund II, with a venture USD fund. On average, the initial size of investment is in the $1-6M range, but the firm has the capacity to invest more in companies they identify as a strong fit. The firm has 5 innovation centers across China focusing on different special areas in Life Sciences and medical devices. With over 8 years of operating experience of international medical technology incubators, the firm looks to tailor its services to help portfolio companies reaching key value-added milestones. The firm will consider opportunities based in China and around the globe. The firm actively supports global companies to fast land China market by leveraging the fund’s connections

The firm is a flexible and opportunistic investor that is currently considering Therapeutics, Medical Devices, Diagnostics, AI, and Biotechnology R&D Services. The firm is opportunistic in terms of sub-sector and indication and is willing to consider companies targeting orphan indications. The firm is open to novel medical devices of all FDA regulatory pathways, including 510k and PMA. In terms of therapeutics, The firm will look at products in pre-clinical stages. Regarding medical devices and diagnostics, the firm will invest at any stage of development.

The firm will invest in privately held companies only, and the firm can participate as either lead or co-investor. The firm has no specific requirements for the management team. The firm may take a board seat in applicable cases.

If you are interested in more information about this investor and other investors tracked by LSN, please email RESI@lifesciencenation.com.

A USA-based life sciences venture capital and company formation firm started in 2017 with approximately $1.8 billion under management. The firm is currently investing out of a new fund that recently closed. The firm will make equity investments of approximately $40–60 million across all stages of private financing and can either lead investments or co-invest. The firm considers investment opportunities worldwide.

The firm invests primarily in therapeutics and invests broadly across different therapeutic areas and modalities. Areas of high interest include precision medicine approaches, gene therapy, autoimmune diseases, oncology, neurology (particularly diseases with genetically defined populations), ophthalmology, and rare diseases. The firm generally invests from preclinical (2–3 years pre-IND) through to Phase II, and prefers to invest in assets with good animal models and/or genetic evidence to support efficacy and target validation.

The firm generally invests in privately held companies and likes to work with experienced management teams who have had prior startup successes. The firm is an active investor and the partners have deep experience in company building, and we are therefore interested in providing support on strategy, BD, recruiting and other areas of active management in addition to providing capital.

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A corporate venture arm of a large corporation with over 150 years of history has offices in USA & multiple countries throughout Asia. The firm makes seed, venture and growth stage investments in companies in the life sciences space as well as other spaces like IT and cleantech. The firm typically makes equity investments in the range of $3-5M per portfolio company. The firm primarily invests in life science companies based in the US, but due to the firm’s global presence, the firm can also invest in companies based in Asia and Europe. The firm has no current mandate for the number of allocations it plans to make in the space and will evaluate relevant opportunities as they surface.

The firm invests in early-stage companies in the biotech therapeutics, medical technology and devices, diagnostics, and healthcare IT sectors. The firm is sector and indication agnostic.

The firm is looking for companies with a strong and qualified management team or technical experts in the relevant technology. The firm can act as either a lead or co-investor.

If you are interested in more information about this investor and other investors tracked by LSN, please email mandates@lifesciencenation.com.