Silicon Valley-based Canaan Partners has announced a new $600 million fund of which one-third will be dedicated to medical device, biopharmaceuticals and diagnostics investing.
About a quarter of the investments will likely be outside the United States, primarily Israel and India. Most of the investments will be in early and seed-stage companies.
Its most recent life science exit is Advanced BioHealing, which was acquired by Shire for $750 million in 2011. Its healthcare portfolio includes the stroke treatment company CoAxia, spinal disorder company SpineWave, and pulmonary disease company Elevation Pharmaceuticals.
Canaan will invest at any point in a company’s life, and will dedicate anywhere from $1 million to $20 million to portfolio companies.
It describes its biopharmaceuticals investments as:
- Therapeutics and vaccines with a special emphasis on combating infectious diseases
- Companies with drugs that can be repurposed or reformulated
- Sectors with reduced development and commercialization risk
- Platform technologies that address multiple product opportunities
It looks for medical device investments around:
- Novel, next generation devices to treat major diseases
- Devices that target chronic diseases and diseases of aging
- Companies pursuing therapies that are less invasive than current approaches
- Areas where there is strong consumer demand for therapies
It was diagnostics that are:
- Tied to specific, personalized therapies
- Implantable sensors that provide real-time health information
- Technologies that provide ongoing diagnoses for chronic diseases
- From companies with an expedited regulatory path and minimized commercialization risk
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