RALEIGH – NovaQuest Private Equity closed a new fund with $500 million in commitments from limited partners, according to a statement issued by QHP Capital, L.P., the management company for the firm.

The fund, known as NovaQuest Private Equity Fund II, LP or NQPE II for short, originally sought $425 million in commitments, and is now oversubscribed.

According to a company statement, the investors include existing and new including pension plans, insurance companies, asset managers, private foundations, and family offices.

The private equity firm began to deploy its first fund in 2018.  It invests in technology-enabled life science and pharmaceutical services companies.

NovaQuest Private Equity manages about $1.2 billion in assets following the closing of the most recent fund and said in a statement it has made seven platform investments and 11 follow-on acquisitions.

The firm is an investor in Wilmington-based Catalyst Clinical Research, a provider of outsourced clinical services for clinical trials, which recently made an acquisition in an expansion move.

“We are grateful for the support we received from our existing limited partners, as well as strong demand from new investors for NQPE II,” said Michael Sorensen, partner, NovaQuest Private Equity.  “As a continuation of the strategy we executed in our first fund, NQPE II will focus on investing in innovative companies in attractive thematic sectors and on partnering with talented management teams to build great companies.”

NovaQuest Capital Management, a separate legal entity but with association, is also active in the state.  NovaQuest Capital Management spun out of IQVIA, back when it was Quintiles.