Israel-based investment firm Arkin Holdings launched a $140m healthcare-focused fund yesterday with commitments from insurance providers Phoenix Group and Migdal.
Migdal is anchor investor for the vehicle and has supplied $60m, while Phoenix and Arkin are each providing $40m according to Calcalist.
Arkin Bio-Ventures II will seek to invest in 10 to 12 companies developing gene therapies, RNA and DNA-based therapeutics, and treatments for conditions with a high unmet medical need.
The fund will be managed by Pini Orbach, head of pharma at Arkin. He also managed the first Arkin Bio Ventures fund and will be assisted by investment manager Alon Lazarus.
Mori Arkin, founder and chairman of Arkin Holdings, said: “Arkin Bio-Ventures II builds on the success of our earlier, well-established and lucrative fund. Together with our partners, we look forward to further successful investments in novel and world class technologies and organisations.
“We are excited to collaborate with Migdal and Phoenix Group, two of Israel’s largest and most sophisticated institutional investors.”
Arkin Holdings was founded in 2009 and maintains a portfolio worth a combined $1bn spread across four units: Arkin Bio Ventures, the medical device-focused Accelmed, the dermatology-focused Arkin Derma and hedge fund Sphera Global Healthcare.
The firm closed its first Arkin Bio Ventures fund in 2016 with $60m from Phoenix Group and Arkin itself. Its recent investments include cancer biotherapeutics developer Werewolf Therapeutics, which closed its $56m series A round in November 2019.
