Forbion has unveiled its largest haul to date, as the European life-sciences-focused VC firm brings in more than 2 billion euros across two funds.
Netherlands- and Germany-based Forbion exceeded its targets for its two newest funds, Forbion Growth Opportunities III and Forbion Ventures VII, by bringing in 1.2 billion euros ($1.3 billion) and 890 million euros ($980 million), respectively.
Each fund is likely to be invested into around 15 portfolio companies, Forbion explained in an Oct. 15 release. The latest raises bring the firm’s total assets under management to 5 billion euros ($5.4 billion).
Forbion pointed to Numab subsidiary Yellow Jersey Therapeutics, which was acquired by Johnson & Johnson for $1.25 billion in May, and radiopharma biotech Mariana Oncology, which was bought by Novartis for $1 billion in the same month, as examples of recent success stories for the Forbion stable.
“With greater levels of capital, we are able to extend more support to our portfolio companies as they grow and seek to maximize their potential,” Forbion co-founder and Managing Partner Sander Slootweg said in a statement.
“We continue to see great opportunities to deploy capital in Europe and North America, backing talented management teams that develop novel therapeutics with the potential to impact the future of medicine,” Slootweg added.
Today’s investment haul significantly overshoots the 1.35 billion euros ($1.5 billion) brought in by Forbion’s previous funds—Forbion Ventures Fund VI and Forbion Growth Opportunities Fund II—in April 2023.
In this morning’s release, Brian Frieser, principal portfolio manager for private equity and infrastructure at MN, explained why the Dutch pension adviser had taken a chance with Forbion’s latest funds.
“Investments in biotech not only promise strong returns but also make a positive societal impact,” Frieser said in a statement. “The capital commitments to Forbion’s new fund on behalf of our clients are expected to contribute significantly to this two-sided goal.”
A year ago, Forbion’s Slootweg used pension funds as an example of the kind of generalist investor that had become more attuned to biotech during the pandemic.
“In the past, we could not get a lot of traction with, for instance, pension funds because they were more focused on the traditional economy and maybe some tech plays,” Slootweg told Fierce Biotech at the time. “But I think COVID and the response by the industry has shown the tremendous importance of our industry, not just in the ability to generate returns, but also the societal returns.”
It’s been a hot few weeks in biotech investment, with Bain Capital Life Sciences and Arch Venture Partners both announcing biotech- and healthcare-focused VC funds of around $3 billion, while Frazier Life Sciences sourced a further $630 million for its fund focused on small and mid-cap biotechs.