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British Patient Capital commits $65m to SV Health Investors, to invest in life-changing biotechnology companies

Press release 20 July 2020

  • SV Health Investors closes first fund dedicated to biotechnology at $265m

  • Investment builds on British Patient Capital’s current commitments to life sciences

British Patient Capital announces a cornerstone commitment of $65m to SV Health Investors’ latest fund, SV7 Impact Medicine Fund (IMF), to turn scientific breakthroughs into biotech companies producing high impact precision medicine drugs for poorly treated diseases.

The commitment increases British Patient Capital’s exposure to life sciences and health technology, building on a commitment to the Dementia Discovery Fund in 2018.

The IMF is SV’s first dedicated biotech fund, with a mission to turn scientific breakthroughs into successful biotech companies producing high impact precision medicine drugs for poorly treated diseases. The IMF will exploit SV’s extensive in-house experience of company creation, focusing predominantly on early-stage biotechnology investments, providing support through multiple funding rounds. The IMF can also invest in late preclinical and clinical stage companies.

Working closely with its portfolio companies as trusted advisers and partners, and by acting as entrepreneurs who can create and build breakthrough companies and treatments, SV’s biotechnology team will maximise the IMF’s potential to transform healthcare.

The Fund, which closed at $265m, attracted investment from several of the world’s leading pharmaceutical companies, family offices, pension funds and charities including Cancer Research UK, Guy’s and St Thomas’ Charity and the Paul Hamlyn Foundation. Cancer Research UK announced its strategic partnership with SV Health Investors in June 2019 to focus on accelerating the translation of Cancer Research UK’s research into the development of new cancer medicines for patients.

The Fund has already made a number of investments into UK based science, creating biotechnology companies such as Alchemab, which develops antibody therapies for hard-to-treat diseases, including cancers, infectious diseases, and neurodegenerative conditions.

Precision medicine aims to deliver major, durable impact on drug safety and efficacy by providing patients with therapeutics targeted at their specific disease mechanisms with the ultimate intent to cure.

In May 2020, Kate Bingham, Managing Partner, SV Health Investors, was appointed Chair of the UK’s Vaccine Taskforce. In her work for SV, Kate’s biotech investments have resulted in the launch of six drugs for the treatment of patients with inflammatory and autoimmune disease and cancer making her uniquely qualified for the role.

The strength of SV’s UK based biotech team, and their partnerships with groups such as Cancer Research UK, ensures access to some of the UK’s most exciting high potential biotech investment opportunities. The potential for precision medicine to significantly improve healthcare outcomes not only addresses some of society’s most pressing challenges, highlighted by COVID-19, but also offers SV a compelling investment opportunity. Catherine Lewis La Torre CEO British Patient Capital

SV’s reach into core life science markets, including the US, means their networks, and situational experience can be a real boost to companies seeking to expand internationally.

As the UK’s largest domestic institutional investor in venture funds, we are providing the patient capital required to allow best in class managers, like SV Health Investors, to back their investee companies through multiple rounds.

SV are delighted that our first fund focused solely on biotechnology investment has attracted significant support from a large variety of limited partners including existing investors to SV such as British Patient Capital as well as new investors. Kate Bingham Managing Partner SV Health Investors

With many organisations working in unison to achieve the UK’s mission of maintaining a leading position in precision medicine, this felt like the perfect time to launch the IMF.

As with our other funds, the IMF team will work closely with our portfolio companies to maximise the fund’s potential to transform healthcare and contribute to the UK’s mission.

Further Information

Notes to editors

About British Patient Capital

British Patient Capital is the trading name of British Patient Capital Limited, a wholly-owned commercial subsidiary of British Business Bank plc, the UK government’s economic development bank. It forms part of the British Business Bank’s commercial arm.

Its mission is to enable long-term investment in innovative firms led by ambitious entrepreneurs who want to build large scale businesses. British Patient Capital has been given new resources of £2.5bn and will deliver a programme designed to support high growth potential innovative UK businesses in accessing the long-term financing they require to scale up. Find out more at britishpatientcapital.co.uk.

British Business Bank plc and its principal operating subsidiaries are not banking institutions and do not operate as such. Neither British Business Bank nor its principal operating subsidiaries are authorised or regulated by the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) or the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). A complete legal structure chart for British Business Bank plc and its subsidiaries can be found on the British Business Bank plc website.

British Patient Capital makes commitments and invests on its own behalf and on behalf of third-party investors whose investments British Patient Capital manages.

The investment from British Patient Capital into SV7 Impact Medicine Fund LP does not amount to any endorsement or warranty from British Patient Capital, the British Business Bank PLC, or the government of the UK.

About SV Health Investors

SV Health Investors is a leading healthcare fund manager committed to investing in tomorrow’s healthcare breakthroughs. SV invests across stages, geographic regions, and sectors, with expertise spanning biotechnology, dementia, healthcare growth, healthcare technology and public equities. With approximately $2.2B in assets under management and a truly transatlantic presence with offices in Boston and London, SV has built an extensive network of talented investment professionals and experienced industry veterans. Since its founding in 1993, SV has invested in more than 175 companies with more than 75 of these having achieved successful acquisitions or IPOs.

Historically, SV managed funds have been diversified across the three sectors. However, the firm’s seventh vintage of core funds is separated into three distinct vehicles; the SV7 Impact Medicine Fund forms and funds early-stage biotechnology companies developing precision medicines, the Growth Fund accelerates growth-stage healthcare services, medical products and digital health companies and the Medtech Convergence Fund specializes in novel medical device and remote-monitoring technologies.

Alongside their core funds, SV manages the Dementia Discovery Fund, focused on discovering and developing novel therapeutics for dementia, and the International Biotechnology Trust plc, a publicly-traded investment trust.

For more information, please visit svhealthinvestors.com.

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