New Life Science VC Launches With €210m Fund
This article was originally published in Scrip
Index Ventures has spun off its life sciences team, portfolio companies and funds into a new venture capital firm called Medicxi Ventures, a validation of its 'asset-centric' approach to investing. The new firm launches with the close of Medicxi Ventures 1 (MV1), a new €210m ($250m) fund that will continue focusing on asset-centric, early-stage investments in European life science programs.
Medicxi Ventures will be managed by four general partners: Francesco De Rubertis, David Grainger, Kevin Johnson and Michèle Ollier. The four previously led the life sciences practice of Index Ventures. Read an in-depth interview with De Rubertis and Johnson about Medicxi Ventures here.
Medicxi's inaugural fund MV1 includes GlaxoSmithKline and Johnson & Johnson; both companies were investors in MV1's predecessor fund Index Life 6 (IL6). As in IL-6, the two pharma companies will not receive any specific rights to the portfolio companies.
The number of exits over the last couple of years, "particularly XO1 to J&J," gave Medicxi the confidence to strike out on its, De Rubertis told Scrip. Success was in large part due to the "added value" received from the participation of pharma companies, "in terms of brainstorming ideas and designing experiments" that are relevant to pharma.
"We are delighted to support the Medicxi team and this early stage investment fund. We believe in the potential to create an exciting pipeline of new medicine candidates by collaborating and investing with an asset-centric model," commented Dr Moncef Slaoui, GSK's representative on Medicxi's scientific advisory board.
Dr Richard Mason, head of Johnson & Johnson Innovation, London, added: "We are optimistic that applying the asset-centric investment model of Medicxi across Europe and beyond will uncover the new and highly differentiated science and technology that is needed to turn early stage research into viable products and patient solutions."
"The creation of Medicxi Ventures as a new entity is a natural evolution given that Index' life sciences team has been operating autonomously within the firm for several years," said Neil Rimer, co-founder of Index Ventures. "Whilst Index and Medicxi will operate independently, we retain close ties and look forward to continuing to share ideas and expertise."