OrbiMed raises $800m for Asia life sciences fund
OrbiMed has closed its latest Asia life sciences fund, which primarily invests in China and India, with $800 million in commitments.
OrbiMed Asia Partners IV – for which the first regulatory filing indicating a target of $750 million was made in March 2020 – focuses on venture through growth-stage deals across biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, diagnostics, and healthcare services. The goal is to back approximately 20 companies, making deployments of $10-100 million.
The final close announcement was made alongside those for two other private investment funds. OrbiMed collected $1.5 billion for its eighth North America and Europe-focused venture vehicle and $1.2 billion for a fund that provides structured credit and royalty monetization financing solutions for healthcare companies globally. Total assets under management now stand at $18 billion.
"These extensive financial resources allow OrbiMed to partner with healthcare companies across their life cycle, solving financing needs from start-up seed capital through to growth equity and non-dilutive debt capital," the firm said in a statement.
OrbiMed raised $551 million for its third Asian fund in 2017. The strategy for that fund was to make 15-20 investments of $10-75 million, with a 20% allocation to early-stage drug developers. The firm closed its debut regional vehicle at $188 million in 2008 and collected $325 million for the subsequent vintage in 2014.
Recent investment activity includes co-leading a $40 million Series C for DNA sequencing and diagnostics specialist AnchorDx and participating in a $150 million round for Visen Pharmaceuticals, a drug developer targeting glandular conditions such as dwarfism and growth deficiency. It also re-upped in biotech player Abbisko Therapeutics and online healthcare platform Miaoshou Doctor.
OrbiMed saw plenty of IPO activity within its Asia portfolio last year as the likes of Harbour BioMed and Akeso Biotech listed in Hong Kong and Burning Rock Biotech went public in the US. More recently, New Horizon Health, a cancer early screening company, raised HK$2 billion ($258 million) through a Hong Kong offering and then gained more than 200% on debut.
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