(EUROPE)
A new $300 million fund will help late stage biotech companies in Europe compete with their American peers.
The Medicxi Growth 1 (MG1) fund will help to level the international playing field for European firms, who have traditionally struggled to find access to serious investment on their own doorstep. Novartis, Verily and the European Investment Fund (EIF) are its key backers.
A Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) – supported by industry leaders from Novartis and Verily – will play an important role in strategically managing the fund.
Francesco De Rubertis, co-founder and Partner at Medicxi, said: “The backing by Novartis and Verily is extremely exciting for us. We look forward to inspiring and insightful sessions of the Scientific Advisory Board. We believe these meetings will greatly benefit our portfolio companies.”
The fund will look to invest in both public and private companies, that are at an advanced stage of bringing a new product to market capable of “meeting unmet medical needs”.
“This late-stage growth fund will support ambitious European entrepreneurs who are willing and able to build innovative companies through advanced clinical development and market entry, rather than pursuing a premature and generally suboptimal early exit through partnering or M&A,” added Giuseppe Zocco, co-founder and Partner at Medicxi.
