A pharmaceutical company that specializes in Liver Disease, CNS, and Diabetes is actively searching for promising therapeutic candidates under development around the world to invest in or incorporate into its pipeline. The firm is flexible in terms of the structure, and has the ability to invest, in-license, acquire, and co-develop products. If investing in a company, the firm is most interested in private companies, though does look at public companies. The firm will invest in Series A/B companies or assets, and will typically invest between $1M-$5M per allocation depending on the opportunity. The firm is interested in world wide/major territories such as the US, EU, APAC, and East Asia.
The firm is currently seeking promising therapeutic candidates to incorporate into its pipeline. In terms of indications, the firm is most interested in therapies targeting liver disease, though is indication agnostic with added interest in neurology, hepatology, oncology, and gastroenterology. The firm is also interested in other therapeutic areas that address unmet medical needs, including orphan disease. The firm will look at both small molecules and biologics and will consider both NCE or NCE-like molecules, as well as re-positioning molecule to a new indication. The firm is not in OTC drugs. The company prefers assets in phase I, II, IND-ready, or preclinical with some in-vivo data. However, the company will also look at assets in phase III and NDA stage.
The firm will consider partnership opportunities from around the world and has no specific management team or distribution right requirements.
If you are interested in more information about this investor and other investors tracked by LSN, please email mandates@lifesciencenation.com
A cross-border venture capital fund is currently investing from its roughly $70 million fund closed in 2014. The initial investment size is highly variable although the firm is looking to provide up to $10+ million over the lifetime of the investment. The firm generally provides capital in the form of equity although they also have experience in working with convertible notes. The firm is interested in companies located in North America or Asia, with a special interest in regions outside of traditional biotech hubs. The firm’s primary focus is on private companies while public investments are also made selectively.
The firm is currently interested in companies developing Therapeutics, Diagnostics, Medical Devices, and R&D Services Companies. The firm is entirely opportunistic in terms of subsector and indication. In terms of phase of development, the firm is looking for companies with lead assets in the preclinical stage to companies that already have products on the market. The firm will consider companies in various stages on a case by case basis including seed financing.
The firm views the management team as one of the most important variables in selecting a potential investment. The firm looks for highly experienced and trustworthy management teams. The firm is highly interest in US based companies that are looking to expand into Asian markets or vice versa as member of the fund can add much value in these situations with their vast Asian network. However this US-Asia business development angle is not a criteria or requirement for the firm’s investment.
If you are interested in more information about this investor and other investors tracked by LSN, please email mandates@lifesciencenation.com
A venture capital firm that was established in 2000 and is based in the central US is currently in the process of raising its 2nd fund targeted at $50 million. The firm typically makes equity co-investments in seed and early stage companies ranging from $50,000 to $8 million with most investments in the $250,000 to $1.5 million range. The firm makes as many as 12 allocations per year and is open to opportunities throughout the United States and Canada.
The firm is looking for companies in Sectors of Telemedicine, Healthcare IT, Pathology, Diagnostics, Bioinformatics, Medical Devices and more recently Vaccines. The firm does not look at pharmaceutical opportunities. The firm is interested in early stage companies from pre-prototype or pre-clinical to clinical stage that have a cost efficient and innovative product with a clear pathway to exit in approximately 3-5 years. The firm is open to consider all indications and types of devices. The firm is not interested in late stage investments into companies that already have a product on the market. The firm focuses on opportunities that focus on patient care improvements, healthcare IT or products that solve critical problems that hospitals, doctors or patients face—and for which the company can receive reimbursement.
The firm is looking for entrepreneur-based management teams with experience who are open to working with them. The firm looks to take a board seat following investment. In addition to capital the firm is capable of providing strategic mentoring as well as incubation services both locally and remotely in areas of HR, Marketing, Accounting and Software Development.
If you are interested in more information about this investor and other investors tracked by LSN, please email mandates@lifesciencenation.com
RESI is returning to TMCx on April 11th, and LSN has scheduled two all-day tracks of panel sessions that illuminate every corner of the life science investment landscape. Panels will feature senior, experienced investors from a diversity of investor types – including family offices, VCs, angel syndicates, major global pharma and medical device firms, and more. These investors will explore new investment trends in their sectors, and will share their knowledge and insights with RESI’s audience of entrepreneurs. If you’d like to join us at RESI@TMCx to hear the latest on life science financing and book one-on-one meetings with investors, you can register here.
Many major corporations seek to be involved in new health innovations—not just pharma and healthcare players, but also large firms in other industries such as tech and telecoms. Traditionally, the role of large corporations in the healthcare innovation economy has been primarily to act as M&A players as well as development and distribution partners. Many corporations also have corporate VC arms that can engage with companies at an early stage, before M&A would typically occur.
Corporations also make financial investments, and LSN Research has increasingly heard that corporations are seeking to put those financial investments to a strategic purpose. Corporations that are limited partners (LP) in a private equity or venture capital fund are seeing a strategic opportunity in these investments.
It’s nothing new for a corporation to invest a portion of their capital in a PE or VC fund. However, in the past this was generally seen as a matter of achieving ROI. Recently LSN has spoken with several venture capital firms that are now specifically focused on working strategically with corporate LPs. These include both new firms formed to act on this strategy and also established firms that have recently raised a new fund solely from corporate investors. The VC then focuses on opportunities that are strategically relevant to the corporate LP; in some cases, the LP may be involved in the due diligence process, or may offer a potential post-investment relationship with companies that could benefit from the corporation’s particular niche expertise in development and manufacturing. The VC stake can act as a bridge between the corporation and the early stage portfolio companies, giving the corporation exposure to new technologies in its field of interest.
So what’s the benefit of this strategy to the large corporations?
Efficiency and flexibility. Building a strategic corporate VC arm is a difficult task. Acting as a strategic LP in a fund may be much easier for some firms.
Diversification. A corporation might invest in several different funds in order to reach geographically diverse research hubs or to access different industry sectors. For example, a corporation based in Asia might seek a stake in a fund that will look for investable biotech startups in the USA, or vice versa.
Finally, it’s possible that as a fund LP, the corporation can keep its healthcare strategy and investment activities somewhat shielded from public view.
Due to these factors, major corporations are increasingly using their LP stakes as a supplement to their innovation sourcing activities. It’s now one of many ways for a corporation to build connections with healthcare innovators at an early stage and to look for potential future partnership or M&A targets. On the other side of the coin, many VC firms are eager to build close strategic ties with a corporate LP in order to achieve exits from their portfolio.
By Shaoyu Chang, MD, MPH, Senior Research Manager, LSN
Biopharma deal-making value hit a record high in 2015. Where do things go from here? What emerging technologies are big pharma companies now excited about? At the opening of 2016, big pharma executives gathered at RESI San Francisco to shed some light on these questions.
Moderated by Kevin Lynch, Vice President of Scientific Assessment at Abbvie, panelists include:
Jason Coloma, Vice President and Global Head Roche Partnering Oncology, Roche Partnering
Marc Schwabish, US Head, Pharma Business Development & Licensing, Bayer
Tomas Landh, Vice President, Senior Principal Scientist Innovation Sourcing, Novo Nordisk
Big Pharma Continues to Seek External Innovations
With emerging fronts such as gene editing, immunotherapy, and digital health, the evolution of healthcare technology is faster than one can keep up with. Big pharma companies are closely observing the trend and seeking innovations to fill the gaps in their pipeline. For example, a team at Roche Partnering has mapped out and gone through every single one of the 450 cancer immunotherapy biotech companies in the Bay area to find potential partners. The panelists expect this trend to continue through 2016.
Early Collaborative Models Become Mainstream
As big pharma companies are heading earlier into phase 1 and preclinical, they are getting onboard with the idea of utilizing their resources to help early stage teams answer key questions without many strings attached. Creative models of collaboration are employed. Johnson & Johnson has set up Innovation Centers around the world as a centralized channel to source innovations. Bayer’s Co-Laborator research incubator is another good example to share resources and foster collaborative relationship with early stage teams.
Understanding the Process
When engaging with big pharma partners, one of the the most significant pieces of advice from the panelists is to understand their internal process. “The least productive way is to contact our chairman,” said Tomas from Novo Nordisk. In many big pharma companies, the business development or partnering team acts as the first point of contact and will refer you to the right person.
While many big pharma companies are trying to encourage transparency, a clear understanding of the review process, key checkpoints and key decision makers will help you go a long way. For example, a good confidential disclosure agreement (CDA) will facilitate due diligence process while preventing intellectual property pollution, and a material transfer agreement (MTA) can allow big pharma to replicate key data. On the other hand, several startups request a non-binding term sheet, which frequently add un-necessary challenge as it requires sign-off from senior management.
Best Practice in Reaching Out to Big Pharma
Do your homework. Do not pitch big pharma partners with the same pitch for VCs. Focus on how you differentiate and fit in to big pharma’s pipeline. Contact big pharma’s partnering team to get advice before you pitch. Ask them, what are you looking for? How should I pitch? How can I make a good impression on you? They are there to help you.
Many big pharma companies are now sharing notes and communications internally using databases. Sometimes, a company opens discussions with different groups within the same organization about different projects; it does not bring additional value to “shop” around different persons.
Understand big pharma’s approval process. Who are the key decision makers? What do they like to see in terms of validation and milestones? Take the necessary steps to protect your IP while nurturing a long-term, collaborative relationship. This panel video will give you useful tips; here are a few additional things to consider in building big pharma partnerships.
A growth stage venture firm backed by a sole investor manages a portfolio of companies that spans across a variety of industries; about a third of the portfolio is in the healthcare medtech space. The firm has a specific competitive advantage as a long lifetime fund with the ability to invest throughout the lifetime of a company. The firm currently manages a $540M fund and typically invests in series A/B/C rounds with a preference towards series B/C technology at the growth equity stage. The firm typically invests globally at $10M-$30M per company.
The firm has particular interest in innovative products that can apply to other sectors. The firm has particular interest in medical technology—including biodiscovery platforms, next-generation surgical treatments and devices, biomaterials, dental devices, imaging, and regenerative medicine—though is sector agnostic. The firm is also open to therapeutic and diagnostic technology with innovative pathways, as well as both 510K and PMA devices with clear regulatory pathways (FDA approval/benchmarks). The firm typically invests in preclinical/in development technology, though is open to technology in all phases of development. The firm is indication agnostic and has particular interest in pursuing innovative technology in areas where there is not a lot of trending interest with the ability to be the first in the market.
The firm prefers companies with considerable insight and experience in the space. The firm highlights strong, animated founders with transformational vision and technology that have the potential to produce significant revenue traction. The firm supports what is best for the company, whether it be taking a board seat after an investment or helping fill the management team.
If you are interested in more information about this investor and other investors tracked by LSN, please email mandates@lifesciencenation.com
