MPM adds $408M for its next big wave of biotech star­tups — and on­col­o­gy still dom­i­nates the menu

MPM Cap­i­tal has put the fin­ish­ing touch­es to its 7th ven­ture fund — BV2018 — now tidi­ly tot­ting up to about $408 mil­lion as the ven­ture crew that runs this pro­lif­ic biotech deal­mak­er gets squared away for the next wave of in­vest­ments. Adding it up with their on­col­o­gy-on­ly funds, and the part­ners are work­ing with more than a bil­lion dol­lars.

Guid­ed by some close ex­pert con­nec­tions in the field, MPM has been keen on the on­col­o­gy R&D boom. Luke Evnin, who co-found­ed MPM in the late ‘90s, es­ti­mates that about 70% of MPM’s last fund went to fi­nance pro­grams for ex­per­i­men­tal can­cer drugs. In this next fund, he ex­pects the to­tal for can­cer to drop from that mark, but re­main the dom­i­nant field, tak­ing more than half its in­vest­ment cap­i­tal.

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