Hot Investor Mandate: Health Technology VC Closes New Fund, Looking for Digital Deals

29 Aug

A healthcare venture capital investment firm based in Boston, Massachusetts recently raised a healthcare IT and services fund of over $250 million. The firm generally makes investments in early stage companies targeting healthcare technology and services. The investment size will vary, depending on the opportunity. The firm typically invests in companies based in the United States though is open to companies based on a global level.

In the healthcare technology sector, the firm is actively seeking new investments in healthcare software and tech-enabled services sectors with a specific focus on payment reform, patients as consmers, healthcare analytics, healthcare infrastructure, and novel service delivery models. The firm has a specific interest in transformational technologies and services that enable value-based healthcare. The firm currently is not focused on therapeutics or traditional medical device investment opportunities, though may consider medical devices with a software/data component, such as sensors, that have either already obtained FDA clearance or are not subject to FDA regulation. The firm is indication agnostic and invests in pre-revenue to growth stage products.

The firm seeks to invest in privately held companies with a strong and experience management team. The group prefers to invest in companies with cutting-edge technologies and large market potential.

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

Hot Investor Mandate: Midwest Fund Focuses on Digital Therapeutics and Cell & Gene Therapy

29 Aug

A midwest-based VC firm invests in several sectors, including health and life sciences.  Within healthcare, the firm invests primarily in digital heath and digital therapeutics technologies, although they will consider medical device and diagnostics companies. In addition, the firm is also now interested in investing in cell and gene therapies and manufacturing technologies as well. The firm is highly flexible regarding investment size, and will allocate from $1-50M depending on the opportunity and stage of development, with a smaller range of $2-5M for cell and gene therapy technologies. The firm frequently invests in businesses with a significant presence in the Midwest, but will consider strong opportunities elsewhere in the US, or global companies expanding to the US.

For digital health and digital therapeutics companies, the firm will invest in all stages, from pre-revenue to companies with revenue in the tens of millions, and will tailor their investment size accordingly. The firm is fairly agnostic to the type of technology, but is less interested in provider-focused tech. While the firm will consider tech-enabled medical devices and diagnostics companies, this is a secondary interest. The firm is also now investing in pre-clinical cell and gene therapy technologies, as well as companies developing manufacturing techniques for these therapies.

The firm generally prefers to lead investments, but is more likely to co-invest in companies in the cell and gene therapy space. The firm is flexible about board representation, but is more likely to take a board seat in digital-based technology companies.

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

Hot Investor Mandate: Seed Fund Invests in Pre-IND Therapeutics

29 Aug

A newly launched investment fund seeks to provide seed financing in promising therapeutics to help establish proof of concept for new clinical compounds and to identify novel clinical uses for existing therapeutics. The firm’s founder has robust experience with investing in and operating biotechnology and healthcare companies, and seeks to leverage this expertise to help foster innovation. The firm’s initial size of investment will be in the range of $250K to $1M. The firm has been in active discussions with academia and corporate-funded researchers to identify promising early-stage therapeutic candidates. In addition to traditional investment approaches, the firm is interested in new company creation based on promising drug candidates. For traditional investment, the firm will prioritize companies that are based in the USA, but will seek global assets for potential in-licensing and company creation around this IP. The firm expects to invest and work with 5-10 companies across the fund.

The firm is primarily interested in small molecule therapeutics, as the cost of characterizing new biologics and cell therapies is outside of its investment scale. The firm is seeking very early-stage, pre-IND assets, and will assist with successful IND filing and completion of required studies. The firm primarily seeks therapeutics for rare diseases that qualify for orphan drug designation, but apart from that the firm is indication agnostic.

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

Meet the Innovation Challenge Finalists at RESI Boston 2019

22 Aug

By Gregory Mannix, Vice President International Business Development, LSN

We are happy to anounce the finalists who will compete in the RESI Boston Innovation Challenge on September 11th at the Westin Copley Place hotel. As is always the case, we received many great applications from cutting edge technologies across the four main life science silos: Drugs, Devices, Diagnostics and Digital Health. Also, we will again feature a number of grant recipients from the NIH/SBIR program, a program we have coordinated with the NIH for 4 years now. In total, 40 companies will present a poster on the day of the conference, taking advantage of this unique opportunity to “socialize” their projects to conference attendees and seek their RESI cash to win one of the top places in the competition for valuable prizes. As always, competing in the RESI Innovation Challenge has no cost for companies, but offers much to gain. Congratulations and good luck to the finalists!

Therapeutics

Medical Devices

Diagnostics

Digital Health

RESI Comes to Shanghai with a New Co-Organizer- Enmore Healthcare

22 Aug

By Candice He, Global Investment Strategist, LSN

The first RESI event in China will be held in Shanghai on November 12, 2019. LSN is partnering with Enmore Healthcare to bring RESI to China. As the Co-Organizer, Enmore Healthcare will reach among investors and early-stage life science companies in China, this partnership will help bring China’s world of early-stage life science innovation into RESI’s global ecosystem.

LSN is excited to bring the world-renowned RESI Conference to China with our title sponsors McDermott Will & Emery and Stetson Family Office, and our partnership with Enmore Healthcare will build a bridge between the US/Europe and Asia.

About Enmore Healthcare

Enmore Healthcare is affiliated to Shanghai Enmore Commercial Development Co., Ltd., a part of Enmore Group. It has hosted industry conferences in the medicine and healthcare fields on a regular basis since 2009, forming service models such as conference, media outreach and expert network. We are committed to building a service platform focusing on life sciences and healthcare, enhancing understanding between international and local peers, promoting cooperation between companies, research and medical institutions and investors and enhancing communication between governments, associations and businesses.

Big Pharma Firms Partner Early at RESI Boston: Panel Announcement

22 Aug

By Karen Deyo, Senior Investor Research Analyst, LSN

For many therapeutics companies, acquisition by a Big Pharma is the most sought-after exit scenario. The big question always is: how do startups get there? The Big Pharma panel at RESI Boston, taking place on Wednesday, Sept 11th, looks to answer this, and other, questions. The panelists will discuss how to get in front of the right people at a Big Pharma, the different types of partnerships and collaborations that can be a first step towards potential acquisition, and even how Big Pharma companies may be expanding beyond traditional therapeutics.

We are excited to announce the panelists participating on the Big Pharma panel at RESI Boston. Moderated by Guillermo Yudowski, Principal Investigator, External Portfolio Innovation Unit (EPIU) at Biogen

Guillermo Yudowski serves as Principal Investigator at the Laboratory of Neuronal Cell Biology (LNCB) and the External Portfolio Innovation Unit (EPIU) in Biogen. As member of the EPIU, Guillermo represents Biogen externally to establish a global network with industry and academia fostering partnerships and collaborations focused on developing innovative therapies for people living with serious neurological and neurodegenerative diseases. Prior to joining Biogen, Guillermo held various academic appointments at The University of Puerto Rico and the University of California San Francisco where his research focused on understanding fundamental aspects of neuronal function. He was a visiting scientist at Pfizer, the Weizmann Institute and is recipient of several honors including been selected as Pew Latin American fellow.

The panelists are:

Javier Cote-Sierra, Head of External Innovation Inflammation & Immunology at Sanofi

Javier is the Head of External Innovation Inflammation & Immunology. Before joining Sanofi, Javier was Senior Director External Science & Innovation Inflammation & Immunology Research Unit at Pfizer. Prior to joining Pfizer, Javier was the Director of Immunology at the GSK Center for Skin Biology. Javier joined GSK from Hofmann-La Roche where he was Senior Scientific Investigator, in the Respiratory, Inflammation & Autoimmunity department. Javier started his career in the Immuno-Inflammation TA at Millennium Pharmaceuticals. Javier has a BSc in Microbiology from Universidad Industrial de Santander, Colombia, a MSc in Molecular Biology and a PhD in Immunology from the Free University of Brussels, Belgium. He completed his postdoctoral studies in Immunology at NIAID, NIH in Bethesda, MD.

Mark Stencik, Executive Director, Business Development & Licensing, Boston Innovation Hub at Merck

Mark has more than 17 years of industry experience mainly focused in business development and licensing. Mark currently leads transactions at the Merck Boston Innovation Hub, which is a Business Development and Licensing team focused on early-stage therapeutics (pre-clinical proof-of-concept) as well as accessing innovative research and technologies through collaboration, licensing, or mergers and acquisitions in the academic, pharma and biotech communities. Mark has led the negotiation of various complex transactions, including Merck’s acquisition of Tilos Therapeutics and licensing deals with Skyhawk, Dragonfly, Moderna, among others. Prior to Merck, Mark spent over five years at Vertex Pharmaceuticals in Business Development and Strategic Operations roles. Prior to that he spent time at Amgen in various finance roles including Treasury and Business Development & Strategy. Mark holds a B.S. in Accounting from the Pennsylvania State University and an MBA in Finance from New York University.

Jennifer Ma, Executive Director, Business Development & Licensing at Novartis

 

 

 

 

Greg Fralish, Director, Oncology Business Development at Takeda

 

 

 

 

Hot Investor Mandate: Innovation Arm of Global Company Strategically Invests and Partners with Devices & Diagnostics Companies, with Interest in Combination Products

22 Aug

An innovation arm of a global company nurtures innovative ideas developed internally and also forms external partnerships with startups in fields that are strategically relevant for the company’s business objectives. These partnerships may include co-development, in-kind services and/or early stage financial investments. The firm partners with startups based anywhere in the world.

The firm is interested in life science startups developing products that are strategically relevant to the parent company. Sectors of interest include devices that make use of semiconductors or advanced engineering, diagnostic sensors, point of care diagnostics and health monitoring. Digital health opportunities may also be of interest.  The firm may also consider investing in combination products. The firm is open to working with companies at a very early stage of development.

The firm is only interested in companies that have a long-term strategic alignment with the firm. Partnerships generally involve providing access to the firm’s expertise and development support, in addition to potentially making a financial investment.

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

 

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