In October, 5AM Ventures announced plans to raise $350 million for its sixth fund and it seems that the company has hit its mark. The money in that fund will be used to support the formation and development of new biotech companies.
In October, 5AM Ventures announced plans to raise $350 million for its sixth fund and it seems that the company has hit its mark.
BioCentury has reported that the venture capital firm announced it had raised $350 million for its 5AM Ventures VI fund. The money in that fund will be used to support the formation and development of new biotech companies. Additionally, BioCentury reported that 5AM Ventures closed its 5AM Opportunities I fund. 5AM Ventures raised a total of $497 million for the two funds, according to the report. The Opportunities I fund, which is 5AM’s inaugural co-investment fund, raised $147 million, which will be used to invest in the firm’s existing portfolio companies, according to the report. The $147 million exceeded the fund’s target of $125 million, BioCentury said.
Andy Schwab, a managing member and partner at 5AM, told BioCentury that the company will use the Opportunities I fund to invest in 10 to 15 companies. The estimated investment for each company is between $5 and $20 million. Schwab also said the funds from the sixth fund will be used to invest between $20 million and $30 million in 15 different companies. Schwab said the company is “being broadly opportunistic in terms of both therapeutic area and modalities.”
5AM uses its funds to support early-stage companies across different therapeutic areas. 5AM’s portfolio is diversified across biopharmaceutical, drug delivery technology and research instrument sectors. The company has invested in more than 50 different companies, including Audentes Therapeutics, which recently announced an update on its lead gene therapy candidate, AT132, for the treatment of X-linked Myotubular Myopathy (XLMTM). In January, Audentes met with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to review clinical data in hopes of supporting submission of a Biologics License Application (BLA) for AT132.
Following the Regenerative Medicine and Advanced Therapy (RMAT)/Type B meeting with the FDA, Matthew R. Patterson, chairman and chief executive officer of Audentes said the meeting was productive and provided a potential path toward BLA submission for AT132. Following the meeting, Audentes said it will enroll an additional three to 5ive patients in one of its cohorts of a Phase I/II study. Optimal dose selection is expected to occur in the second quarter of 2019, after the evaluation of the six-month biopsy results from the first three patients dosed in Cohort 2, the company said.
Audentes’AT132 has been granted RMAT, Rare Pediatric Disease, Fast Track and Orphan Drug designations by the FDA, and PRIME and Orphan Drug designations by the EMA.
