Sofinnova Partners, Europe’s largest VC focused on life sciences, has raised €333M to fund early-stage healthcare companies, bringing the total capital managed by the firm to €2B.
Sofinnova Partners aims to invest around two-thirds of the new fund, called Sofinnova Capital IX, in European life science companies. The other third will be invested globally, with a focus on North America and Asia.
Sofinnova Partners will fund up to 15 life science startups with the new fund, with a focus on biopharmaceutical and medical device companies. “We will start more seed projects, knowing that not all of them will survive the harsh period of early scientific discovery,” said Antoine Papiernik, Managing Partner at Sofinnova Partners. On average, the firm will invest up to €30M per company, once the companies have “graduated” from the seed period.
Founded in 1972, Sofinnova Partners is one of the leading VC firms focused on life sciences. Some notable European companies it was a founder VC of include Actelion, Ablynx, Corevalve, DBV, and many others. Capital IX is the latest edition of its flagship early-stage platform, but the firm has also established over the last few years other vehicles allowing it to fund companies across the life science value chain, including a seed fund for gene and cell therapy technologies based out of Milan, a device acceleration fund, a fund dedicated to industrial biotech, and a late stage crossover fund.
According to Papiernik, Sofinnova Partners’ focus on investing in cutting-edge European life science companies mirrors the maturation of the biotech space on the continent. “Europe is very good value for money in the biotech field compared to the average Boston-based deal,” he said. “I feel we are in the right place at the right time.”
Editor’s note: This news story has been updated to correct some inaccuracies published in the original version.
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