An Israeli life sciences investment firm is raising more than $100 million for a new fund that it plans to invest in about a dozen companies that are developing medicines in areas like gene therapy.
Arkin Holdings, based in Herzliya Pituach, near Tel Aviv, said Monday that it was raising $140 million for the fund, named Arkin Bio-Ventures II. Arkin itself, as well as fellow Israeli institutional investors Migdal and the Phoenix Group, have committed to providing money to the fund, which will invest in areas like gene therapy, RNA- and DNA-based therapies and targeted therapies.
“Arkin Bio-Ventures II builds on the success of our earlier, well-established and lucrative fund,” Arkin Holdings Chairman Mori Arkin said in a statement. “Together with our partners, we look forward to further successful investments in novel and world-class technologies and organizations.”
The company launched a $60 million fund for life sciences investment in June 2016, together with The Phoenix Group, which took a 49% stake in the partnership. Other moves have included a partnership with Shanghai-based WuXi AppTec and Daarmstadt, Germany-based Merck KGaA – not to be confused with U.S.-based Merck & Co. – for the February 2018 launch of ExploreBio, an Israel-based biotech incubator.
Arkin’s website highlights 10 companies that it has funded, including those in which it remains invested and those that have exited, such as UroGen Pharma, MetaboMed, Pi Therapeutics, Redpin Therapeutics, BioSight, Lutris Pharma and CCAM Biotherapeutics. Last May, Pi Therapeutics raised $19.7 million in a venture capital funding round, according to Israeli news media. Some of Arkin’s portfolio companies are in relatively advanced stages of clinical development as well. In June 2018, BioSight launched a Phase IIb study of one of its drugs, BST-236, in first-line acute myeloid leukemia.
The company announced in February that it would bring in Migdal as an anchor investor, thereby increasing its investment scope in the biomedical industry to $1.4 billion.
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.
Photo: Feodora Chiosea, Getty Images
