WuXi Healthcare Ventures, the strategic investment arm of pharmaceutical research firm WuXi PharmaTech, has agreed to merge with venture capital firm Frontline BioVentures.
The merger will create a new entity called 6 Dimensions Capital which will have approximately RMB5.5bn ($800m) of assets under management. It intends to begin work raising dollar and renminbi-denominated funds soon.
WuXi Healthcare Ventures was launched in 2011 as a VC firm affiliated with WuXi PharmaTech, which is also known as WuXi AppTec. It had more than $350m under management, as of December 2015 when it closed its second fund at $290m.
The firm’s exits include cancer therapy developer Agios Pharmaceuticals, molecular data platform Foundation Medicine and immunotherapy developer Juno Therapeutics, all of which have gone public.
Ge Li, founding partner of WuXi Healthcare Ventures, is taking the chairman role for 6 Dimensions, while Leon Chen, China-based Frontline’s founder and managing partner, will be CEO. The firm’s 24-strong team will include seven partners and seven venture partners.
Li said: “I am very pleased to see that the two teams have joined forces. WuXi AppTec, WuXi Healthcare Ventures and Frontline BioVentures’ management teams have an established, close, and efficient collaborative relationship.
“Facing the rapidly growing and evolving healthcare landscape in China, and a promisingly continued innovation-driven environment in the US, I believe the consolidation of the two distinguished teams enables the firm’s better execution of highly differentiated investment strategies to further solidify our leadership in the industry.”