Btobioinnovation.com

Author: Jean-Claude Muller, 穆卓Executive Editor at BtoBioInnovation  jcm9144@gmail.com

SPECIAL REPORT #33

Sofinnova raises €333 Million to boost Life Science Innovation

Sofinnova Partners, a Paris-based leading European venture capital company, has raised €333 million ($368 million) in an oversubscribed Capital IX round to “fund and be a lead investor in start-up companies and corporate spin-offs and focus on therapeutic, paradigm-shifting technologies and products alongside visionary entrepreneurs” in the biopharmaceutical and medical device industries.

The firm, driven by Managing Partner and Chairman Antoine Papiernik, currently manages €2 billion across an extensive life sciences platform, €1 billion of which has been raised over the last four years. The majority of the commitments to the fund were raised in Europe, but also in North America as well as from major investors from Asia. The successful oversubscription of Capital IX comes after UK’s Medicxi raised €400 million in July, followed the same month by Germany’s Wellington Partners which brought in €214 million to launch its Life Science Fund. Earlier in the year, Seventure, another French-based venture capital firm, has closed an over €200 million fund dedicated to innovation generated by research of the microbiome. These successes are strong indicators that European leaders have now clearly warmed up to the biopharmaceutical industry which they long viewed as too risky.

“Our experienced team, stable strategy and exit record resonated well with investors, hence the success of our fundraising for this latest Capital fund. Over the last three years, we have completed nine remarkable exits in the portfolio for a total enterprise value of almost € 4 billion” said Papiernik.

Sofinnova Partners, which has been in existence for more than 45 years and has backed almost 500 companies, has always been transparent about how and where it invests its money. The company said it intends to spend Capital IX fund with tickets between €17 million and €45 million per company across 15 companies. The money will be invested with a ratio of about two-thirds of the fund dedicated to European companies and one-third going to other regions, primarily in North America.

October 18,2019