A Record Biotech Fund Opens as a CAR-T Developer Winds Down

Keypoints:

• Forbion raised €2.3 billion ($2.6 billion) across two new funds, its largest raise to date
• The firm now manages about €7.5 billion, up 50% in two years
• Backers include MN, PGGM, KfW Capital, the Kauffman Foundation and Eli Lilly and Company
• Caribou Biosciences is ending research and development and cutting staff after failing to secure funding
• European funds capture only 7% of global life sciences venture capital, against 63% for the United States

Forbion, a Dutch life sciences venture capital firm, announced on 6 October that it raised €2.3 billion. The raise substantially exceeded its target and is one of the largest life sciences venture raises worldwide in five years. It splits across Forbion Growth Opportunities Fund IV and Forbion Ventures Fund VIII. Together they can back about 30 companies, and first investments are already done.

Fund IV targets later-stage biopharma companies in Europe and North America. Fund VIII backs therapeutics-focused biotechs, including new ventures built around promising assets and proven teams. About 60% of the money comes from European investors and 40% from North America. Over 20 years, Forbion has financed 142 companies, and 37 of them it created itself.

The timing stands out. Co-founder Sander Slootweg described the market as short of capital. Forbion's raise suggests large investors still back specialist managers with proven returns.

Caribou Biosciences shows the other side. The company, co-founded by Nobel laureate Jennifer Doudna, said it is ending research and development and cutting staff. It could not line up investor financing to pay for late-stage trials of its off-the-shelf CAR-T therapy for lymphoma. Caribou reported $113.8 million in cash at the end of June and is reviewing strategic alternatives.

Europe has a structural gap behind these headlines. Executives from AstraZeneca and Novartis recently warned that Europe's share of global drug development fell from 43% in 1990 to 31%. European funds capture only 7% of global life sciences venture capital.