Medicxi closes a €400M Fund to back biopharma entrepreneurs

Medicxi is a leading European life science investment firm originally created at Index Ventures with the mission to create and invest in companies across the full healthcare continuum. Over 20 years, Medicxi has invested in 89 innovative biopharma companies including the Geneva-based ObsEva. The firm has also achieved 32 exits through IPO and M&A, including Molecular partners (SWX: MOLN) and GlycoVaxyn (acquired by GSK) from Switzerland.

Today, Medicxi, announces the closing of Medicxi III, a new €400 million Fund in just six weeks. This brings the total amount raised by Medicxi in the last three years to over $1 billion. Medicxi III will invest across the full healthcare continuum, from discovery to late-stage clinical assets, empowering ambitious scientific entrepreneurs and drug hunters.

Cornerstone strategic investors in Medicxi III are Novartis and Johnson & Johnson Innovation - JJDC, Inc. (JJDC), both of whom have backed Medicxi in earlier funds. The fund also includes all of the institutional limited partners that previously invested in Medicxi's funds, as well as several new investors, including established hospital foundations and medical institutions.

Medicxi III will be supported by the Medicxi Scientific Advisory Board, which benefits from the scientific and commercial expertise of senior executives from Novartis, the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson, GlaxoSmithKline and Verily (an Alphabet company).

The new fund will continue to focus on Medicxi's pioneering 'asset-centric' investment model as well as investing in fully integrated private companies with an underlying platform and/or a pipeline of assets that Medicxi believes can deliver licensed pharmaceutical products to satisfy unmet medical needs.

The size of the fund and the speed with which it was closed reflects the continued maturity of the life sciences sector across Europe, with investors now prioritizing their attention and support for emerging biopharma companies and their efforts to translate breakthrough science into pipelines of new drugs.

Francesco De Rubertis, co-founder and Partner at Medicxi, said: "Medicxi III is one of the largest biotech funds in Europe and consolidates Medicxi's position as a key operating platform for scientific entrepreneurs and drug hunters. We are grateful to our LPs who made it possible to get the fund closed within only a few weeks."

(Press release)