- 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
Tel: 312-961-2502
E-mail: mikeb@theharbingergroup.com
Omega Contact:
Katie Kerfoot
Tel: 857-332-4495
E-mail: kk@omegafunds.com