Australian government-backed healthcare investment vehicle Medical Research Commercialisation Fund (MRCF) has raised A$210m ($148m) from limited partners including biotech producer CSL for its fifth fund.
The capital represents the fund’s first close and its LPs also include the rest of MRCF’s existing investors: the Australian government and pension fund managers AustralianSuper, Hesta, Statewide and Hostplus.
Like its predecessors, MRCF5 will be managed by venture capital firm Brandon Capital Partners, which is now courting select institutional investors for a targeted final close of up to A$250m.
MRCF5 will back early-stage medical research associated with its network of Australia and New Zealand-based research institutions and hospitals. The fund has identified the first recipients of investment from the fund but declined to reveal their identities.
MRCF’s fourth vehicle, the $166m Biomedical Translation Fund (BTF), focused on clinical-stage businesses. It was launched in 2016 after the Australian government provided matchfunding for capital supplied by CSL, AustralianSuper, Hesta, Statewide and HostPlus, and is still investing.
The same LPs, minus the government, had backed the $152m MRCF3 fund in 2016, which followed $9.8m and $40.8m funds established in 2007 and 2011 respectively.
Peter Beattie, the incoming chairman of MRCF, said: “Our research institutes boast some of the world’s best biomedical researchers, but historically there has been a lack of capital available for early-stage biotechnology companies and a limited amount of commercialisation expertise within the academic sector.”
The original version of this article appeared on our sister site, Global University Venturing.