Arch Venture raises $1.4bn fund to spur ‘healthcare revolution’
The two funds are Arch Venture Fund X and Arch Venture X Overage, which raised a combined $1.46bn (€1.34bn).
Both funds will be used to invest in early-stage biotechs, with Fund X Overage to be used particularly for fewer but larger-scale investments.
The large fund raise is a sign of confidence in the biotech, despite the current COVID-19 pandemic. In a statement, managing director of Arch Venture Partners, Robert Nelson, said that he believes the novel coronavirus emergency will actually accelerate changes across the healthcare industry.
In particular, Nelson stated, “The healthcare revolution will be accelerated by the changes that are happening now and we are excited to continue to invest aggressively in risk takers doing truly transformational science.”
Among the companies that Arch Venture has previously invested in are Vir Biotechnology, Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, VBI Vaccines, Brii Biosciences and San Biotechnology – with all of these companies currently working on COVID-19 therapeutics.
In terms of the scale of investment on offer, Arch Venture notes that it has backed companies with figures ranging from $50,000 to $150m in a single deal.
Some of the companies that have emerged from the fund include Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Juno Therapeutics, and bluebird bio.
The latest funding round marks an advance on its previously closed fund in 2016, which raised $1.1bn, and its $560m figure in 2014.
In a further sign of strength for the biotech industry, Flagship Pioneering also announced a capital raise today, generating $1.1bn to create new companies.
A similar appetite for investment in promising biotechs has also been shown across the Atlantic, with a European record set last month by LSP – with all of these funds arriving at such sums despite the overall economic uncertainty amid the novel coronavirus pandemic.
