Among the biggest raises this year, Foresite Capital’s $900 million fund will support biotech companies working in precision medicine and life science infrastructure.
Foresite Capital on Wednesday announced that it closed its sixth fund, with $900 million in capital commitments to support “groundbreaking” projects at the intersection of biotechnology and technology.
The healthcare and life sciences investment firm said it is looking to back growth-oriented biotechs working in the fields of precision therapeutics, healthcare delivery and life science infrastructure. The focus is reflected in its portfolio of companies, which includes CG Oncology, RayThera and Alumis.
Foresite founder and CEO Jim Tananbaum in a statement said that the firm’s sixth fund is deploying into what he contends is “one of the best biotech investment environments of my career.” Tananbaum established Foresite in 2011 and since then the firm has accumulated more than $3.5 billion in assets under its management.
“Advances in biology, genomics and artificial intelligence continue to converge,” Tananbaum said. “Biotech innovation is predicting, preventing and treating disease more effectively than ever before. We believe these advances will lead to increasingly efficient investing at all stages.”
Wednesday’s fund announcement follows one of the biggest biotech launches on record, for which Foresite was a major backer. In April 2024, Xaira Therapeutics launched with $1 billion to leverage the end-to-end application of emerging AI technologies to power drug development. The startup’s approach has attracted backers including Sequoia Capital and Lightspeed Venture Partners.
Xaira was a joint incubation project between Foresite, through Foresite Labs, and ARCH Venture Partners.
In addition to Xaira, Foresite is also backing Alumis, which earlier this month announced that it filed for an initial public offering (IPO), though it has not yet revealed a target raise value. Alumis is advancing ESK-001, a second-generation TYK2 inhibitor, which the IPO will help support through its trials in uveitis, systemic lupus erythematosus and psoriasis.
Foresite’s fundraise on Wednesday is among the industry’s biggest this year. ARCH Venture Partners in February 2024 announced that it was raising $3 billion for its thirteenth fund, according to an SEC document filed at the time.
In January 2024, TCG Crossover announced its second fund with a capital commitment of $1 billion for private and public companies.
Tristan Manalac is an independent science writer based in Metro Manila, Philippines. Reach out to him on LinkedIn or email him at tristan@tristanmanalac.com or tristan.manalac@biospace.com.
