The venture capital arm of a Japanese drugmaker is giving a big boost to its investment pool, with a particular focus on oncology.
Taiho Ventures – part of Tokyo-based Taiho Pharmaceutical – said Tuesday that it had increased its fund from an initial $50 million to $300 million. The fund said it is seeking investment opportunities worldwide, its focus on oncology stemming from Taiho Pharmaceutical’s work in oral anticancer drugs.
The first company it invested in was Arcus Biosciences, a Hayward, California-based firm that has several small molecules and antibodies in preclinical, Phase I and Phase Ib testing. Under that investment, Taiho Pharmaceutical and Arcus entered into an option agreement in September 2017 to in-license development and commercialization rights for Arcus’ product candidates for Asian markets, with exception to China.
“Taiho Pharmaceutical aims to be a global oncology company,” Taiho Pharmaceutical President Masayuki Kobayashi said in a statement. “We conduct innovative R&D into new drugs originating in Japan based out of our drug discovery research facilities in Tsukuba, Ibaraki,” he added, referring to a city in Japan’s Kanto region.
Other companies listed in the venture arm’s portfolio include Pact Pharma, Harpoon Therapeutics, Storm Therapeutics, Quentis Therapeutics and Oric Pharmaceuticals.
The increase in funding to Taiho’s venture arm comes amid reports that venture capital investment in life sciences has seen a significant increase this year. In July, a report from Silicon Valley Bank showed that the total dollar value of Series A funding rounds in biotechnology and pharmaceutical startups for the first half of 2018 exceeded that of the full calendar year of 2017, totaling $2.6 billion, compared to 2017’s $2.3 billion. Oncology has taken the lion’s share of funding, totaling $2.362 billion between 2016 and the first half of this year.
A Deep-dive Into Specialty Pharma
A specialty drug is a class of prescription medications used to treat complex, chronic or rare medical conditions. Although this classification was originally intended to define the treatment of rare, also termed “orphan” diseases, affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the US, more recently, specialty drugs have emerged as the cornerstone of treatment for chronic and complex diseases such as cancer, autoimmune conditions, diabetes, hepatitis C, and HIV/AIDS.
But other clinical areas have seen a significant increase in funding as well. In June, Pfizer said it would kick $600 million into its venture capital arm, including $150 million for early-stage neuroscience companies. Pfizer Ventures’ portfolio includes more than 40 companies and, with $500 million invested to date, the new investment brings the value of its assets to more than $1 billion.
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