Lilly Asia Ventures, the Asia-focused biomedical venture capital firm sponsored by US-based pharmaceutical firm Eli Lilly, has closed its fourth fund at $450m, AltAssets reported yesterday.
LAV Biosciences Fund IV was heavily oversubscribed and took only two months to reach its hard cap, according to Alt Assets, though a regulatory filing indicates it was launched in February this year. It has not disclosed any limited partners apart from Eli Lilly.
Founded in 2008, Lilly Asia Ventures was formed by Eli Lilly to invest in life sciences and healthcare technology developers in Asia, and particularly in China. It typically invests between $5m and $15m per round at growth stage, and tries to take a board seat if possible.
LAV Biosciences Fund IV follows a third fund, LAV Biosciences Fund III, which was launched in 2015 with a target of $150m.
Lilly Asia Ventures’ portfolio companies include pharmaceutical research provider HD Biosciences, which was acquired by pharmaceutical firm WuXi AppTec in January this year, as well as E-Scape Bio and Just Biotherapeutics, which it has backed in the past few weeks.