Canada-based venture capital firm TVM Capital Life Science closed its latest fund, TVM Life Science Ventures VII, at $201.6m yesterday, with pharmaceutical firm Eli Lilly contributing funds as a cornerstone investor.
Other investors in TVM Life Science Ventures VII included the other cornerstone investor, fund-of-funds Teralys Capital, which invested $65m in the fund in 2012, as well as pharmaceutical company Bukwang Pharma, Minnesota Life Insurance Company, Business Development Bank of Canada, CD Venture and FondAction.
The fund will involve TVM collaborating with industry partners to acquire early-stage molecules from pharmaceutical and biotech companies before forming project-based companies to develop them.
Chorus, a drug development subsidiary of Eli Lilly, will also provide assistance to the project companies.
Darren Carroll, vice president of corporate business development for Lilly, said: “We are excited by the potential for this novel venture fund, working with a diversified group of project-focused-companies, to help address significant unmet medical needs.
“Lilly has pioneered the use of independent external financing sources and innovative business models, such as the collaboration with TVM Life Science Ventures VII, to supplement our core R&D investment strategy, leverage research investments, and to help reduce the risks of research.”
The fund will aim to make investments in 12 to 15 project-focused companies and four or five traditional venture capital investments. Led by teams in Canada and Germany, it will invest in Canada, the US and Western Europe.