Hot Investor Mandate 2: Transatlantic Fund Looks Across USA and Europe for Medtech, Diagnostics and Healthcare IT

~ Next Phase Admin ~ Leave a comment

A transatlantic investment fund based in the Netherlands manages four healthcare technology funds. The firm focuses on investing in companies developing therapeutics, medical devices, diagnostics and digital health. The firm prefer to invest in clinical stage therapeutics companies and commercial stage diagnostics/medical technology companies. The investment size ranges from €5 million up to €30 million. The firm is seeking to make 2-3 investments over the next 6-9 months, targeting companies based in the U.S. and Europe.

The firm is currently looking for new investment opportunities in Diagnostics, Medical Devices and Digital Health spaces. The firm is very opportunistic in terms of subsectors and indications. The firm primarily invests in Europe-based diagnostic companies, and US-based medical device, diagnostics and digital health companies.

The firm does not look at therapeutics or biotech R&D service technologies. For diagnostics and medical devices, the firm is interested in companies with commercial-stage/revenue-generating products, but may also look opportunistically at earlier stage technologies. These may include 510K devices where the FDA clearance is very close and/or where reimbursement is the last hurdle and feel confident in the path to reimbursement. For digital health, the firm looks opportunistically at companies beyond the Series A stage.

The firm focuses on investments in private companies and it will consider pre-revenue companies, depending on the opportunity. The firm prefers to invest in companies with experienced and committed management team.

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

Hot Investor Mandate 3: Multinational Pharma Looks Externally for Preclinical Neuro Platforms

~ Next Phase Admin ~ Leave a comment

A multinational pharmaceutical company headquartered in Japan with a US subsidiary division is actively looking globally for opportunities to in-license cutting-edge, early stage therapeutic assets.

The firm’s external R&D is focused on both neurodegerative and neurodevelopmental diseases including Parkinson’s disease, autism, Rett Syndrome, fragile X, and lysosomal storage diseases. The firm is also interested in diabetes, immunology, and infectious diseases. The firm is seeking platform technology with new MOA such as gene therapy, stem cell therapy, and monoclonal antibody acting on new targets. The firm prefers early stage, pre-POC assets.

The firm is looking for assets that would be strategic a fit with its current portfolio. The firm is willing to negotiate regional rights based each therapeutic field. For example, in immunology and neurology, the firm would prefer both US and Asia rights. In diabetes, infectious diseases, and other areas, the firm can request Asia rights only.

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

Hot Investor Mandate 4: Midwest VC Invests in Cardiovascular and Orthopedic Devices

~ Next Phase Admin ~ Leave a comment

A venture capital firm based in Michigan, USA is investing exclusively in early stage and seed investments in medical device companies. The firm provides seed, first, or second round of financing, typically in equity. The initial investment in a company ranges from $250K to $3M, with follow-on financing rounds. Accordingly, the firm invests between $2-6M over the life of an investment. The firm typically invests in companies that are based in the US, but may consider exceptional opportunities abroad. The firm is actively seeking new investment opportunities.

The firm is specifically looking for medical devices that address cardiovascular, orthopedic indications. The firm has no clinical requirements and will invest in design stage. The product must be based on strongly protected IP.

The firm prefers to invest in companies that are not looking to develop their own sales team, but rather developing a technology that can be sold at a healthy premium to a company which already has the requisite sales and marketing teams in place. The firm generally takes a board seat, but is not a requirement. In addition, the firm prefers to assume a role on the company’s scientific advisory board. The firm is looking for companies with a strong and experienced management team.

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

RESI Boston: Insight from China Strategic Partners on Cross-Border Opportunities

~ Next Phase Admin ~ Leave a comment

By Shaoyu Chang, MD, MPH, Director of Research & Asia Business Development Liaison, LSN

Shaoyu 10*10

An increasing number of Chinese biopharma companies are entering the global stage and changing the dynamics in life science innovations. In 2016, Simcere Pharma made a splash by hosting a life sciences startup competition across East and West coast. This year, not long after Qilu Pharma launched its 25,000 square-feet incubator in Brighton, Luye Pharma also opened its new Boston R&D Center.

As these Chinese firms are setting foot in North America, they typically hire industry veterans with multinational pharma experiences to spearhead their business development efforts. These professional deal-makers not only are equipped with deep domain knowledge, but they develop a unique perspective on cross-border opportunities for biopharma innovators.

At RESI Boston, entrepreneurs are invited to the China Strategic Partners Panel to learn about where market opportunities and challenges are, and how to collaborate with Chinese corporations. The speakers include:

How is Your Fundraising Campaign Shaping Up? Get Expert Consultation from LSN for Free

~ Next Phase Admin ~ Leave a comment

By Matthew Tosch, Vice President of Sales, LSN
Direct: 617-681-7891 Email: m.tosch@lifesciencenation.com

As any fundraising executive can attest, raising money for their start-up is an arduous process that requires steadfast perseverance. Even with full-time dedication to the task, many companies fall short. It is not for a lack of effort on their part- Life Science Nation has worked with hundreds of executives to help them set themselves up for success. For a limited time, LSN is offering any interested fundraising companies a free consultation on their current fundraising efforts. Topics that we will cover include:

  • Best practices for your branding to generate a clear, concise, and investor-centric message
  • Identification a “Global Target List” of investors that match your technology and your stage of development
  • Setting up your internal infrastructure;
  • Explaining why utilizing an administrator or hiring someone on an hourly basis to manage your meeting requests and to follow up with any investor leads is pivotal to your success.

LSN has a few RESI conferences coming up and I personally would like to help you get ready to take advantage of RESI and meet investors and strategic partners. You can contact me to arrange the consult. The consult will be led by a Senior Investment Analyst and a Senior BD Consultant who are experts in the early stage fundraising process. An example of the areas we can address are:

  • Feedback on your pitch deck / executive summary
  • How to effective canvass and message investors through email and phone exchanges
  • What does your “Global Target List” look like
  • Heat map of global investors that are a fit for you and should be on your radar

Bringing Access into the Drug Development Process, The 2017 Expanded Access Summit (September 15, 2017)

~ Next Phase Admin ~ Leave a comment

By Jess Rabourn, President, WideTrial

2017 may go down as the “Year of Expanded Access”. Expanded Access Programs (EAPs) are FDA authorized clinical trials for patients who cannot get into regular clinical trials.  The mechanism was created in 1987 to permit seriously ill patients and their doctors to explore new possible treatments that are in clinical development but not yet approved for market. And now, after 30 years of practice, there are major opportunities to use relatively inexpensive EAPs to strengthen clinical drug development in the toughest diseases.

This year, the Trump administration -including HHS and FDA leadership-  plus several elected officials on Capitol Hill, have called for greater power for gravely ill Americans and their doctors to consider pre-approval therapeutics. Drug and device makers around the country are already scrambling to comply with special measures in the new 21stst Century Cures Act which require companies to publicize their early-access policies. Additional early-access legislation may find its way into the FDA Reauthorization Act before Summer’s end.

At the same time, big initiatives for real world evidence, precision diagnostics, and adaptive clinical trial design are captivating product development teams in the same companies that face demands for early product access. Could these two disparate opportunities be addressed by the same solution?  In the U.S., well-designed Expanded Access programs are finding their way into the drug development process for new products in unsolved, life-threatening diseases. Treating wider sets of patients in a target indication opens the door to vast collection of consented treatment-outcomes data, which are vital for understanding a patient population and the differential response patients may have to an investigational drug, device, or diagnostic.  So how can EAPs be integrated into clinical development, and what needs to change to marry the benefits of access and research?

On September 15, 2017, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, leaders from pharma and biotherapeutics companies, FDA, NIH, and leading advocacy organizations will be brought together to answer these questions.

The 2017 Expanded Access Summit is designed to be a groundbreaking event for drug development. It is produced by WideTrial, a longstanding policy advisor and innovation leader in pre-approval access. WideTrial has tasked its speakers and attendees with establishing new best-practices for modern Expanded Access. Audience participation will be a critical component of the Summit outcomes, which will be compiled, edited, and submitted for publication after the event.

To learn more and take part in this event, register now on the conference website:  http://widetrial.com/

Hot Investor Mandate 1: New $300 Million Fund Focuses on Early Stage Therapeutics

~ Next Phase Admin ~ Leave a comment

A venture capital firm backed by a China-based investment group was founded in 2017 and is based in San Francisco, CA. The firm closed its inaugural fund of $300M and is actively seeking new investment opportunities. The fund will make 15-20 investments in total with no set number of investments per year. The firm will be actively involved in their portfolio companies and will invest $15-20M over the life of the company. Initial check sizes will depend on the company’s stage of development and their needs prior to investment. The firm will invest mainly in USA-based companies but may invest up to 20% of the fund in companies based in Western Europe.

The firm is focused solely on early-stage therapeutics and will not consider opportunities in medical devices, diagnostics, healthcare services or healthcare IT. The firm is primarily interested in traditional therapeutic modalities – programs that aim to discover and develop small molecule, antibody/protein-based clinical candidates will be considered. The ideal stages of development would be anywhere from IND candidate (12-24 months from the clinic) through Phase I, and the firm is open to all indications including orphan and rare diseases.

The firm can work with all types of management teams and places more importance on their technology. The firm can both lead and co-invest along syndicates and will generally seek board representation in portfolio companies.

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