Omega Funds Closes Oversubscribed $650 Million Fund VII to Invest in Transformative Life Science Companies
- Adds Mike Powell, Ph.D., as Executive Partner & promotes Francesco Draetta to Partner
BOSTON, Dec. 17, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Omega Funds, a leading international healthcare venture capital firm focused on delivering impactful medicines to patients, today announced it has closed its seventh and largest fund with $650 million in limited partner capital commitments. The new fund, Omega Fund VII, L.P. ("Fund VII"), was oversubscribed, exceeding the firm's targeted raise of $500 million, and included strong support from both new and existing limited partners. With Fund VII, the firm will continue to execute on its strategy of creating and investing in life sciences companies in the US and Europe that target severe, unmet medical needs. Since its inception in 2004, Omega Funds has raised close to $2 billion to invest in exceptional entrepreneurs developing innovative products across multiple therapeutic areas, including oncology, immunology, rare diseases, and precision medicine.
"We appreciate the trust from both our longstanding and new investors and their support of our differentiated model, which leverages our broad investment toolkit and data-driven approach to target transformative innovation," said Otello Stampacchia, Ph.D., Founder and Managing Director of Omega Funds. "We look forward to contributing our conviction-building processes and network connectivity, in addition to capital, to the many entrepreneurs and founders intent on transforming existing standards of care for severe diseases. We believe this is the most exciting time to invest in healthcare, due to the accelerating pace of development in biotechnology and the fact that the COVID-19 pandemic has led to many novel discoveries about the human immune system."
Fund VII builds upon the success of Omega Funds' $438M Fund VI and previous funds, which have supported portfolio companies that have brought 46 new products to market. The firm's investments have contributed to 39 successful portfolio company public listings and 35 portfolio company exits via M&A. Omega Funds' recent public offerings and exits include Theseus Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: THRX), Adagio Therapeutics (NASDAQ: ADGI), Icosavax (NASDAQ: ICVX), Imago BioSciences (NASDAQ: IMGO), Ikena Oncology (NASDAQ: IKNA), Nuvation Bio (NYSE: NUVB), Sana Biotechnology (NASDAQ: SANA), Prevail Therapeutics (acquired by Eli Lilly) and Kronos Bio (NASDAQ: KRON).
Fund VII is stage-agnostic and is expected to be deployed across companies in the U.S. and Europe. Similar to past funds, Fund VII investments will include a variety of investment approaches, from company creation to early venture rounds and later-stage financings.
"We are delighted to announce with the closing of Fund VII, the addition of Mike Powell as Executive Partner and the promotion of Francesco Draetta to Partner" added Dr. Stampacchia. "We have thoughtfully built our investment team to have the diverse capabilities required to successfully identify, support and construct biotech companies that can bring novel therapies to patients. We look forward to Francesco's continued contribution and Mike's complimentary additions to the team."
Mike Powell, Ph.D., joined Omega Funds in August 2021 from Sofinnova Investments, where he served as Managing General Partner since 1997. Previously, he was Group Leader at Genentech, where his focus was on drug delivery, CMC, and formulation of both small molecule and protein drug entities. He was previously Board President of the AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition, and past advisor to the Institute for One World Health, the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI), and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Dr. Powell is currently an Adjunct Associate Professor in the Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry at the University of Kansas, and also serves on the Board of Trustees at Washington University in St. Louis. Dr. Powell has authored or co-authored 90 peer-reviewed publications, numerous book chapters, and the textbook, Vaccine Design. He holds a PhD in Physical Chemistry from the University of Toronto, and completed his postdoctoral studies in BioOrganic Chemistry at the University of California.
Francesco Draetta, CFA, CAIA, began his career at Omega Funds, as an Analyst from 2008 to 2012, and then rejoined in 2016 as a Principal. He focuses on private company investments and fundraising for the firm. Mr. Draetta currently serves on the board of Chord Therapeutics and is Chief Financial Officer of Omega Alpha SPAC (NASDAQ: OMEG). Prior to rejoining Omega, Mr. Draetta was part of the investment team at Brookside Mezzanine Partners and at Commonfund Capital. Mr. Draetta graduated cum laude from the Isenberg School of Management at the University of Massachusetts Amherst with a BBA in Finance and Operations Management.
About Omega Funds
Founded in 2004, Omega Funds is a leading international venture capital firm that creates and invests in life sciences companies that target our world's most urgent medical needs. Omega focuses on identifying and supporting companies through value inflection points across the full arc of innovation, from company formation through clinical milestones and commercial adoption. Omega Funds' portfolio companies have brought 46 products to market in multiple therapeutic areas, including oncology, rare diseases, precision medicine and others. Please visit www.omegafunds.com for additional information.
Media Contact:
Michael Beyer
The Harbinger Group
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Omega Contact:
Katie Kerfoot
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SOURCE Omega Funds
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