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Japan’s government development bank will invest in UK life sciences for the first time with funding to 4Bio Capital, a UK venture fund supporting advanced treatments such as cell and gene therapy.
The Development Bank of Japan has invested in 4Bio, which provides funding to companies in the UK and Europe, along with Japanese pharmaceutical group Kyowa Kirin and US healthcare provider Children’s Minnesota.
4Bio raises $200 million to $300 million for third fund to invest in early-stage private biotech companies, nearly double its previous raise, despite depressed stock prices for publicly traded biotechs I am aiming to do that. The S&P Biotechnology Index is trading about 50% below its February 2021 high.
Dmitry Kuzmin, managing partner at 4Bio Capital, said the past year has seen a “strange disconnect” between public markets and private life science investment appetite.
Roughly one-third of all drug regulatory approvals in the U.S. are for advanced treatments, including the recent approval of the first Crispr gene-editing treatment for sickle cell disease, he said. It was also included.
Big pharma had a lot of cash in reserve and wanted to invest to fill its drug pipeline before patents on some major blockbusters expire by the end of the decade, he added.
“Given both the collapse in valuations and continued evaluation, we believe now is an opportune time to continue supporting early-stage innovation, particularly in Europe and the UK in particular.” [scientific] “We’re making progress,” he said.
4Bio has already invested from its third fund, including co-leading a Series A round in ViaNautis, a spin-out from University College London, which is developing gene therapies for lung and central nervous system diseases. There is.
The Development Bank of Japan said it wants to connect domestic startups with startups around the world. DBJ Vice President Mami Matsunaga said 4Bio’s “network and knowledge of cutting-edge treatments in the UK, Japan and around the world make it the perfect partner.”
He said the bank believes there is “huge untapped potential” in life sciences in the UK, Japan and around the world, and that the partnership will support “efforts to revitalize Japan’s life sciences ecosystem”. He added that he hopes to do so.
The British government has said it wants the country to become a “life sciences superpower,” but many small and medium-sized enterprises are struggling to raise funding from British investors who see them as unwilling to take risks. ing.
Kuzmin said DBJ’s investment was a sign that private sector investors in the UK needed to think about “strengthening their strategy”, and that global capital was more invested in UK-based ventures than in local pension funds. He said that he is making investments in 4Bio is primarily backed by investors in the United States and Japan.
“[Biotech] very important [industry] “That’s an area where the continent has an advantage, but we haven’t really leveraged that advantage because we don’t have the financial resources that American money has,” he said.
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