A biotech venture capital firm has closed two new funds worth $497 million.
5AM Ventures said Wednesday that it had closed the two funds – 5AM Ventures VI, worth $350 million, and 5AM Opportunities I. The firm, based in San Francisco and Boston, said 5AM Ventures VI would focus on building new biotech companies, while 5AM Opportunities I would target existing companies its portfolio with opportunities to invest additional capital. The money for the funds was raised from corporate and public pensions, endowments, foundations, family offices and funds-of-funds.
According to Oct. 4, 2018 filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the total $350 million amount raised for 5AM Ventures VI is consistent with what the firm had sought to raise when it opened the fund. The filings for the Opportunities I fund, posted the same day, stated that the amount being targeted was $150 million. BioCentury reported Wednesday morning that the firm had raised $147 million for the smaller fund, but that the amount it originally targeted was $125 million.
Several executives from 5AM Ventures could not be reached for comment or did not respond to requests for comment.
In January, Atlas Venture announced it had closed its AVOF I fund at $250 million, representing a 25 percent premium over the $200 million that it had originally set out to raise. The month before, Versant Ventures said it closed its seventh fund, Versant Venture Capital VII, at its hard cap of $600 million, having set out in September to raise $500 million; the fund also raised a $100 million fund for Canadian investments. And in October, ARCH Venture Partners said in an SEC filing that it planned to raise $600 million for its 10th fund, Fund X.
Radnor, Pennsylvania-based Cabaletta Bio is a 5AM portfolio company that recently made news when it raised $50 million last month in a Series B round that included participation from the venture capital firm. The company is developing cell therapies for autoimmune diseases called CAAR-Ts, similar to the CAR-Ts used to treat blood cancers, such as Novartis’ Kymriah (tisagenlecleucel) and Gilead Sciences’ Yescarta (axicabtagene ciloleucel). Another company in 5AM’s portfolio is Boston-based Pear Therapeutics, which is pairing existing drugs with digital software with the idea of improving patient outcomes.
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.
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