Wellington Partners Raises EUR 210 Million Life Science Fund

August 1, 2019 PR-M08-19-NI-002

Wellington Partners raises EUR 210 million life science fund

  • Fifth life science fund closes well above initial target range of EUR 120-150 million

  • Fund to focus on breakthrough innovation with the potential to address major unmet needs and significantly improve medical care

 

Wellington Partners, a leading European venture capital firm investing in early- and growth-stage life science companies, today announced the final close of its fifth-generation fund Wellington Partners Life Science Fund V (WPLS-V). The fund closed at EUR 210 million, making it the largest life science dedicated fund raised by Wellington Partners to date.

WPLS-V will build a portfolio of approximately 15-20 companies, ranging in focus from novel biotechnology platforms, new therapeutics and medical devices, including selected investments in diagnostics and digital medicine. Like its predecessor fund, WPLS-IV, the new fund will primarily target opportunities in Europe with a particular focus on German speaking areas but will also selectively consider opportunities in North America or Asia. All of the fund’s investments will target substantial improvements to current medical practice for the benefit of patients, practitioners, and payors alike.

WPLS-V attracted international investment from new blue-chip investors including KfW Capital, Talanx and US-based UTIMCO, the University of Texas/Texas A&M Investment Company. Existing investors European Investment Fund and the European Investment bank also participated in the fund.

Regina Hodits, Managing Partner of Wellington Partners, commented: “The successful final close for Wellington Partners Life Science Fund V at EUR 210 million, more than double the size of our previous fund, is testament to investor appetite for our specialist investment strategy and to our team’s unrivalled experience and long-standing track record in European life science investing.

“We are seeing clear opportunities for superior returns from investing in pioneering European life sciences companies. Given the world-leading innovation ecosystem in Europe, particularly in the German speaking region, paired with a scarcity of qualified financial investors operating in the European life science arena, we have already identified significant opportunities for WPLS-V.”

Rainer Strohmenger, Managing Partner of Wellington Partners, added: “Wellington Partners has been delivering outstanding returns to investors for more than 20 years. Across all four previous life science fund generations our investment strategy has addressed major unmet medical needs with highly innovative products. The new fund will allow us to continue this proven and successful investment strategy on a larger scale.

Attracting both new and existing international blue-chip investors to the fund demonstrates the calibre of our investment strategy and we are particularly pleased to welcome new investors UTIMCO, KfW Capital and Talanx. We are also grateful for the continued support from our existing investors European Investment Fund and the European Investment bank, as well as several family offices and trusts, who substantially increased their commitments.”

WPLS-V will build on Wellington Partners’ proven track record of balancing investments based on creating high-return, high-impact biotechnology companies formed around truly innovative science with highly experienced management teams. Wellington Partners also invests in already proven technologies and business models in the diagnostic, medical device and digital health space. This focused investment strategy has been successful, with recent exits including:

  • The sale of digital pathology company Definiens to AstraZeneca for up to USD 300 million within less than six months from investing, having followed the Company’s development for several years
  • Cutting edge immuno-oncology company Rigontec’s sale to MSD for up to USD 553 million, where Wellington was one of the founding investors
  • Symetis, a medical device company with a significant market presence in the German speaking area prior to its USD 435 million sale to Boston Scientific
  • The trade sale of Invendo Medical, a pioneer in disposable GI endoscopy devices, to Ambu for up to EUR 225 million

 

Contact details

Wellington Partners
Dr. Regina Hodits, Managing Partner
Dr. Rainer Strohmenger, Managing Partner 
Via Ulrike Hartl
hartl@wellington-partners.com
+49 (0) 89 219941-20

Consilium Strategic Communications
Chris Gardner/Amber Fennell/Melissa Gardiner
wellington@consilium-comms.com
+44 (0) 20 3709 5700

Nice Insight

Nice Insight, established in 2010, is the research division of That’s Nice, A Science Agency, providing data and analysis from proprietary annual surveys, custom primary qualitative and quantitative research as well as extensive secondary research. Current annual surveys include The Nice Insight Contract Development & Manufacturing (CDMO/CMO), Survey The Nice Insight Contract Research - Preclinical and Clinical (CRO) Survey, The Nice Insight Pharmaceutical Equipment Survey, and The Nice Insight Pharmaceutical Excipients Survey.

Wellington Partners

Wellington Partners is a leading European Venture Capital firm investing in early- and growth stage life science companies. Wellington Partners is focused on investing in the most promising life science companies in the fields of biotechnology, therapeutics, medical technology, diagnostics and digital health. With funds totalling EUR 1.0 billion, and more than EUR 400 million committed to Life Sciences, Wellington Partners has been actively supporting world class private companies translating true innovation into successful businesses with exceptional growth. To date, Wellington Partners has invested in 46 innovative life science companies, including Actelion (acquired by J&J), Definiens (acquired by AZ/Medimmune), Invendo (acquired by Ambu), MTM laboratories (acquired by Roche), Rigontec (acquired by MSD), Symetis (acquired by Boston Scientific), Immatics and AMBOSS. 

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