Pharmaceutical companies Novartis and Astellas have invested in US-based venture capital firm MPM Capital’s $400m, the Boston Business Journal reported yesterday.
MPM initially hoped to raise $380m, but capped the fund at $400m when it became oversubscribed. The fund, MPM BioVentures 2014, is the firm’s sixth and will invest in life sciences startups. MPM Capital now has more than $3bn under management.
Companies it has funded include Ipierian, which developed treatments for neurodegenerative diseases and was acquired by Bristol-Myers Squibb in April 2014, and insulin pump maker Valeritas, which set the range for its initial public offering at $14 to $16 in March this year.
The fund’s closure follows the appointment last month of Anthony Rosenberg, formerly Novartis’ head of global M&A and Licensing, as managing director of MPM. MPM and Astellas have previously co-invested in Verastem, Epizyme and Raze Therapeutics.