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Carlyle-backed investor Abingworth is tapping traders for a fund value as much as $1.5bn to bankroll scientific trials, because it pioneers partnerships with massive pharmaceutical corporations for a share of royalties from new medicine.
The UK-based life sciences investor is planning to finance as many as eight late-stage trials with the brand new fund, in line with individuals conversant in the fundraising. Carlyle, the non-public fairness group which purchased Abingworth in 2022, may also spend money on the fund as a restricted companion, the individuals stated.
The fundraising effort comes after Abingworth signed two royalty offers with giant pharmaceutical and biotech corporations earlier this 12 months, and because the fund plans to return round $500mn to traders in a 12 months wherein the biotech enterprise capital sector has struggled.
In February, it introduced a collaboration with California’s Gilead Sciences to develop the most cancers drug Trodelvy in a deal value as much as $210mn. Trodelvy is already permitted to deal with some cancers together with breast most cancers, and Abingworth is now serving to to fund trials to see if it could sort out lung most cancers.
In April, Abingworth agreed to fund scientific analysis for an bronchial asthma inhaler with Israeli drugmaker Teva in a deal value as much as $150mn.
The newest fund is more likely to shut by the primary half of subsequent 12 months, the individuals stated.
Based in 1973, Abingworth beforehand centered on enterprise capital investments in early-stage biotech corporations.
It hopes the brand new fund will entice bigger pharmaceutical corporations that need to scale back their capital expenditure, whereas nonetheless pursuing a bigger portfolio of potential medicine for “extra photographs on purpose”, an business time period for maximising the possibilities of getting a profitable drug.
Pharma teams are desperate to refill their drug pipelines as many blockbuster medicines will go off patent within the coming years. Whereas smaller biotechs have beforehand achieved offers with specialist royalty corporations to safe financing for costly trials, it’s uncommon for bigger drugmakers to take this method.
Final 12 months, Abingworth raised a $356mn fund to spend money on trials alongside corporations, which it stated on the time was “considerably oversubscribed”, exceeding its goal of $300mn.
Abingworth has informed potential traders within the fund that it has traditionally had a higher-than-average success charge in recognizing the proper medicines and creating them in phase-three trials, with about 80 per cent of experimental medicines that it had helped finance receiving approvals. This compares to an business common of about 55-60 per cent, the individuals stated.
Abingworth beforehand invested in so-called “co-development offers” via portfolio firm SFJ Prescribed drugs. However in August, it employed SFJ Prescribed drugs’ chief govt Robert deBenedetto to work with pharma corporations and bigger biotech corporations.
The vast majority of these offers will now be achieved in-house or with Abingworth’s wholly owned platform Launch Therapeutics.
Abingworth and Carlyle declined to remark.
