With a strong track record for identifying diamonds in the rough, Bain Capital Life Sciences (BCLS) has become a powerful force in biotech investing, pulling in more funding for each of its big-money rounds.
On Tuesday, eight-year-old BCLS revealed that it has raised $3 billion in commitments for its fourth funding round, with $2.5 billion coming from new and current investors and $500 million from its partners and affiliates.
“The fund will draw on BCLS’ multi-decade investment experience to invest scale capital globally in transformative medicines, medical devices, diagnostics and life sciences tools that have the potential to improve the lives of patients with unmet medical needs,” BCLS said in a release.
Back in 2017, BCLS’ initial funding round drew $720 million, followed by rounds of $1.1 billion in 2019 and $1.9 billion two years after that.
Since its inception, BCLS has invested in more than 70 companies that have conducted more than 100 clinical trials and nabbed 16 regulatory approvals, according to the investor. Recently, the firm participated in Cardurion Pharmaceuticals' $260 million series B after putting down $300 million for the cardiovascular-focused biotech in 2021.
Bain’s playbook includes backing companies that need money to wrap up clinical trials or grow their geographic footprint. BCLS also makes bets on public businesses it perceives to be undervalued.
Additionally, BCLS gives some Big Pharma companies a way to advance assets without committing internal resources. The best example of this came in 2018 when BCLS helped create Pfizer neuroscience spinout Cerevel Therapeutics. The company became public in 2020 and was bought out by AbbVie for $8.7 billion in a deal that wrapped up last month.