Up to 60 new life sciences companies are set to benefit from 1.2 billion euros ($1.27 billion) that Sofinnova Partners has raked in over the past year, the European venture capital firm has announced.
Sofinnova Partners—not to be confused with its U.S.-based “cousin” Sofinnova Investments—employs more than 80 people spread across its Paris headquarters as well as offices in London and Milan. The latest fundraising haul brings the firm’s assets under management to more than 4 billion euros ($4.2 billion).
“All seven of Sofinnova’s investment strategies—from incubation to later-stage growth, spanning biotech, medtech, industrial biotech and digital medicine—have capital to back the next generation of life sciences companies,” Antoine Papiernik, Sofinnova Partners’ chairman and managing partner, said in a March 4 release.
“With the new funds, we anticipate supporting 50 to 60 new companies, empowering a new wave of entrepreneurs tackling some of the world’s most pressing health and sustainability challenges,” Papiernik added.
The firm’s portfolio of over 500 companies it has backed since its creation in 1972 have been spread across seven segments including biotech, medtech and digital medicine. Sofinnova said today it will share more details on its individual funds once they have closed.
Some Sofinnova-backed success stories so far this year have included Mediar Therapeutics’ idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis licensing deal with Eli Lilly and a phase 3 win for Tenpoint Therapeutics’ presbyopia treatment.
The second half of 2024 saw some big hauls across biotech investment, with Bain Capital Life Sciences and Arch Venture Partners both announcing biotech- and healthcare-focused VC funds of around $3 billion. Forbion also unveiled its largest haul to date in October, as the European life-sciences-focused VC firm brought in more than 2 billion euros across two funds.
Last year, Maina Bhaman, a partner at Sofinnova, appeared on Fierce’s "The Topline" podcast to share her insights on how investors are approaching the European biotech sector.