Los Angeles County Employees Retirement Association (Lacera) has provided $100m in capital for two funds operated by Lilly Asia Ventures, an investment vehicle launched by pharmaceutical firm Eli Lilly.
The capital went to LAV Fund VI and LAV Fund VI Opportunities, according to a Lacera board meeting report first flagged by Private Equity International. LAV Fund VI has set a $900m target for its final close while the latter fund is targeting $450m.
Initially launched as a subsidiary of Eli Lilly in 2008, China-headquartered Lilly Asia Ventures was subsequently spun off into a separate firm and now manages a total of about $1.2bn in capital.
Lacera had previously committed $100m to the firm’s LAV Biosciences Fund V, which had set a $750m target for its close, in early 2019. The latest investment was disclosed alongside $100m contributions to Grain Communications Opportunity Fund II and Novacap TMT VI.
Lilly Asia Ventures’ deals over the past year include its participation in a $186m series C round for cellular cancer therapy developer Carsgen Therapeutics and a $147m series D for oncology and metabolic drug developer InventisBio. It also exited Legend Biotech in a $487m initial public offering in June.
