Rapha Capital Management Announces First Managed Venture Fund Focused on Investment in Early-Stage Biotech Startups

MIAMI, April 15, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Rapha Capital Management ("RCM") (https://www.raphacap.com), an investment management firm focused in life sciences, today announced the launch of its first managed venture capital fund, Rapha Capital BioVentures Fund I, LP (the "RCBV Fund"), with a target raise of $100M and solely focused on investment in early-stage life science companies. The RCBV Fund builds on an investor base from Rapha Capital's previous thirteen special purpose investment vehicles, Rapha Capital Investment ("RCI") I – XIII that currently manages $25M in early-stage biotech investments since its inception in 2017.  The RCBV Fund has capital commitments from this base of current Rapha investors.

The RCBV Fund will focus on securing the investment lead, typically at Series A or just before, in target companies and will be managed by Kevin Slawin, MD, the Founder and Managing Partner of Rapha Capital Management, LLC, along with an experienced team of advisors and financial managers assembled by RCM. Dr. Slawin will take an active role on the boards and provide counsel to the management of the target investment companies. The RCBV Fund will pass on expenses to the fund's LP investors but charges no management fee. In addition, RCM will co-invest at least $1M alongside LPs in the RCBV Fund. The RCBV Fund will be focused exclusively on investment targets that RCM believes have developed transformative products, technologies, or processes that will drive long-term value creation for investors, with an anticipated three-year horizon to exit for typical investments.

"Successfully identifying those few early-stage companies that we believe will go on to profoundly improve people's lives takes a combination of experience from the front lines in medicine and the knowledge gained from working closely with early-stage companies through the RCI investments," said Dr. Slawin. "Rapha Capital Management will continue to leverage this knowledge and previous successes as we broaden our investment management services to the new RCBV Fund."

Kevin Slawin, MD, the Founder and Managing Partner of Rapha Capital Management, LLC is an oncologic and robotic surgeon, biotech consultant, investor, and founder focusing on disruptive technologies in oncology, T cells and immunotherapy, as well as other breakthrough healthcare technologies. He is the founder of Bellicum Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a company listed on the NASDAQ, and led Bellicum to a successful $161 million IPO in December, 2014. He also plays a guiding role in several of the investments managed by Rapha Capital, serving as a board member at 3DBio Therapeutics, Inc. (https://3dbiocorp.com/), FIZE Medical, Inc. (www.fizemedical.com), and Demeetra AgBio, Inc. (www.demeetra.com). He served as a board member and interim CEO of portfolio company AsclepiX Therapeutics, Inc. (www.asclepix.com) in 2020, engineering their $35 million Series A financing led by Perceptive Xontogeny Venture Fund in mid 2020. Rapha Capital Management manages thirteen legacy SPIVs, Rapha Capital Investment I – XIII. Rapha Capital Management will be offering alternative asset management services to the RCBV Fund, which will be the vehicle for all future investments managed by Rapha Capital Management.

About Rapha Capital Management, LLC -  Rapha Capital Management, LLC is an investment management firm located in Miami, Florida, focused on identifying and managing strategic investments in early stage, non-public biotechnology companies.  Rapha Capital was founded by its President, Kevin Slawin, MD, an oncologic and robotic surgeon, biotech consultant, investor, and founder of companies focusing on technologies in oncology, T cells and immunotherapy, as well as other breakthrough healthcare technologies.  He is the founder of Bellicum Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a publicly traded company listed on NASDAQ.  He is co-Inventor of the FDA-approved "prostate health index (phi)" test licensed and marketed by Beckman Coulter and utilized around the world.  He has published extensively in medical and scientific journals including the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), Journal of the National Cancer Institute (JNCI), and the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM). He has also been frequently listed in America's Top Doctors for Cancer (Castle Connolly Medical) and The Best Doctors in America (Woodward/White).  In 2003, he was awarded the F. Brantley Scott, Jr., Award for Innovation and Creativity in Urology.

For more information about Rapha Capital Management, email [email protected] or visit https://www.raphacap.com

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Media
Sharon Correia
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SOURCE Rapha Capital Management, LLC

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