- San Francisco based venture capital firm, Pivotal bioVenture Partners, has raised $389 million in funding to support the development of innovative and impactful therapeutics.
- The second fund will channel its capital into up-and-coming companies in North America and Europe, and will focus on attracting talented leaders who can guide the growth of these companies in key therapeutic areas.
- The latest fund is $89 million higher than its first fund which was closed in March 2017, bringing Pivotal bioVenture Partners’s total aggregate capital commitment to $689 million.
- Part of the second fund will also be used to back next-generation gene therapy developers, leveraging the capabilities of parent company Pivotal Life Sciences.
Pivotal bioVenture Partners sees the current moment as a great opportunity to contribute to the development of therapeutics with transformative potential in disease management. This sentiment aligns with the general trend of the biotech market over the past few years. With the capital available, Pivotal will support companies across different stages of development, with a distinct preference for opportunities where it can lead or co-lead investments.
In an interview, Peter Bisgaard, the managing director at Pivotal Life Sciences, and Rob Hopfner, the managing general partner, revealed that the firm is already supporting a next-generation gene therapy developer. They also disclosed plans to leverage artificial intelligence and data analytics in future investment decisions.
Pivotal’s portfolio includes companies working in diverse areas of biotech like neurology, gene therapy, AI-powered drug manufacturing and vaccine development. Some of these companies include Karuna Therapeutics, Twist Bioscience, Exscientia, and Vaxcyte.
The announcement comes at a time when the biopharma industry is witnessing a rising wave of mergers, acquisitions, and deal-making activities in general. According to a report from professional services firm PwC, the industry is set for a normalization to pre-pandemic levels in deal making for the year 2024. Particularly, companies in the oncology, immunology, weight loss, and cardiovascular diseases spaces are expected to see high activity levels.
However, the future still holds challenges, as the industry continues to grapple with the volatility of geopolitical tensions, regulatory uncertainty, and the reality of higher interest rates. Companies will need to seek out more ingenious funding opportunities to drive their R&D activities, including private equity and credit.
