BioMedPartners has raised CHF100M (€86M) that will be invested in medical biotech companies in Switzerland, Germany, and other EU countries.
Swiss VC BioMedPartners has managed to gather some big European investors to close its third venture capital fund, called BioMedInvest III and sized at CHF 100M (€86M). Among the investors are the European Investment Fund (EIF) and two banks from the Swiss cantons of Bern and Basel.
The plan of BioMedPartners is to invest the money into 12 to 15 private companies in early- or mid-stage and assist them taking part in their boards. Three companies have already received funds since the first closing of the fund a year ago.
The first is Cardior Pharmaceuticals, a German biotech that raised €15M last May to develop a new technology based on non-coding RNA to predict and treat heart failure. The second, Amal Therapeutics, gathered €8M in September to work on a vaccine for colorectal cancer. And the third, Allecra Therapeutics, has a drug that can block the development of antibiotic-resistant pathogens.
With the new fund, BioMedPartners will keep expanding its portfolio, which includes 55 companies in the Alpine ring — Switzerland, Germany, France, Italy, and Austria. An area that General Partner, Markus Hosang, believes has strong biotech potential. Indeed, out of those 55 biotechs, 19 have generated a return through acquisitions or IPOs since BioMedPartners started investing in 2003.
Image via Wara1982 /Shutterstock