Abing­worth lines up $315M to bet on a new gen­er­a­tion of transat­lantic biotechs

A promi­nent UK-based biotech fund has re­loaded with a $315 mil­lion raise for its next round of bets in the field. Abing­worth, which has been pur­su­ing a transat­lantic strat­e­gy aimed at ex­pand­ing its net­work of port­fo­lio com­pa­nies as well as syn­di­cate part­ners, closed ABV VII with an eye to fu­el­ing a slate of new ear­ly- to late-stage ven­ture rounds.

Led by Tim Haines and Kurt von Em­ster, Abing­worth has been a keen in­vestor in new tech­nolo­gies. They backed CRISPR Ther­a­peu­tics, one of the lead­ers in the emerg­ing gene edit­ing group, while scor­ing with Wil­son Ther­a­peu­tics — a rare dis­ease spe­cial­ist bought out by Alex­ion for $855 mil­lion in cash — and Gary Glick’s IFM Ther­a­peu­tics, which Bris­tol-My­ers paid $300 mil­lion for along with $2 bil­lion in mile­stones less than two years af­ter the A round. IFM had pre­clin­i­cal STING and NL­RP3 ag­o­nist pro­grams in place, look­ing at in­flu­enc­ing the im­mune sys­tem’s re­sponse to can­cer.

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