HealthCap is a specialized provider of

venture capital Venture capital (often abbreviated as VC) is a form of private equity financing that is provided by venture capital firms or funds to startups, early-stage, and emerging companies that have been deemed to have high growth potential or which ha ...

within

life sciences This list of life sciences comprises the branches of science that involve the scientific study of life – such as microorganisms, plants, and animals including human beings. This science is one of the two major branches of natural science, the ...

. HealthCap invests in innovative companies with focus on therapeutics. As of 2017, HealthCap has invested in over 100 companies since inception and completed

initial public offerings An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investment ...

of more than 40 companies. HealthCap has offices in

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

and

Lausanne , neighboring_municipalities= Bottens, Bretigny-sur-Morrens, Chavannes-près-Renens, Cheseaux-sur-Lausanne, Crissier, Cugy, Écublens, Épalinges, Évian-les-Bains (FR-74), Froideville, Jouxtens-Mézery, Le Mont-sur-Lausanne, Lugrin (FR-74), ...

History

The firm was founded in 1996 by Björn Odlander and Peder Fredrikson, and the first fund was started the same year. As of 2017, HealthCap has established seven funds and financed 106 companies, where 39 have been taken public on nine different markets. The most recent fund, HealthCap VII, was established in the fall of 2015. In 2017, HealthCap had approximately 23 employees out of which ten are partners. The team combines venture capital investing experience with competencies and work experiences from small as well as large companies across the healthcare industry, spanning disciplines of scientific research, drug development, clinical practice, investment banking, and industry management.

Investments

HealthCap has raised seven main funds. HealthCap IV-VII are Delaware Limited Partnerships with Swiss general partners. Investors in HealthCap funds include, among others,

European Investment Fund The European Investment Fund (EIF), established in 1994, is a financial institution for the provision of finance to SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises), headquartered in Luxembourg. It is part of the European Investment Bank Group. It ...

, Skandia Life Insurance, the 4th and 6th Swedish National Pension Funds,

The Kresge Foundation The Kresge Foundation is a philanthropic private foundation headquartered in Troy, Michigan, United States. The foundation works to expand opportunities in America's cities through grantmaking and investing in arts and culture, education, enviro ...

Mayo Clinic The Mayo Clinic () is a nonprofit American academic medical center focused on integrated health care, education, and research. It employs over 4,500 physicians and scientists, along with another 58,400 administrative and allied health staff, ...

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private research university in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and rail magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided the school its initial $1-million ...

and

Washington University Washington University in St. Louis (WashU or WUSTL) is a private research university with its main campus in St. Louis County, and Clayton, Missouri. Founded in 1853, the university is named after George Washington. Washington University is r ...

. HealthCap has committed capital exceeding EUR 1 billion. HealthCap invests in companies developing disruptive technologies that hold the potential to change clinical practice. Over the years HealthCap has invested in more than 100 companies. The portfolio companies have developed more than 20 pharmaceutical products and over 40 med-tech products to the market. Many of these products, such as Firazyr®,

Xofigo Radium-223 (223Ra, Ra-223) is an isotope of radium with an 11.4-day half-life. It was discovered in 1905 by T. Godlewski, a Polish chemist from Kraków, and was historically known as actinium X (AcX). Radium-223 dichloride is an alpha particle- ...

®, Tracleer®, are breakthrough therapies addressing life-threatening diseases. Examples of technologies financed by HealthCap are: * Pulmonary arterial hypertension therapy developed by

Actelion Actelion is a pharmaceuticals and biotechnology company established in December 1997, headquartered in Allschwil near Basel, Switzerland. Actelion focuses on the manufacture of drugs that treat rare diseases and orphan diseases. Some of the dru ...

. The company was acquired by J&J in 2017. *

® developed by

Algeta Algeta ASAALGETA:NO was founded in 1997 by Roy H. Larsen and Øyvind S. Bruland in Oslo, Norway as a private biotechnology and pharmaceutical company. The company’s research and development focus lies in the field of alpha-particle emitting ra ...

for treatment of bone

metastasis Metastasis is a pathogenic agent's spread from an initial or primary site to a different or secondary site within the host's body; the term is typically used when referring to metastasis by a cancerous tumor. The newly pathological sites, then, ...

prostate cancer Prostate cancer is cancer of the prostate. Prostate cancer is the second most common cancerous tumor worldwide and is the fifth leading cause of cancer-related mortality among men. The prostate is a gland in the male reproductive system that sur ...

. * A range of drugs in development for rare and ultra-rare genetic diseases by

Ultragenyx Ultragenyx is an American biopharmaceutical company involved in the Research and Development of novel products for treatment of rare and ultra-rare genetic diseases for which there are typically no approved treatments and high unmet medical need ...

. *

Restylane Restylane is the trade name for a range of injectable fillers with a specific formulation of non-animal sourced hyaluronic acid (HA). In the United States, Restylane was the first hyaluronic acid filler to be approved by the U.S. Food and Drug A ...

, an injectable filler developed by Q-Med. The company was acquired by Galderma in 2011. * Trans-femoral

Aortic valve replacement Aortic valve replacement is a procedure whereby the failing aortic valve of a patient's heart is replaced with an artificial heart valve. The aortic valve may need to be replaced because: * The valve is leaky (aortic insufficiency, also known as ...

developed by CoreValve that evades the need for open heart surgery when replacing a malfunctioning heart valve. * High-throughput protein screening technologies developed by Five Prime Therapeutics. * Injectable synthetic bone substitute, Cerament, to enhance

bone remodeling Bone remodeling (or bone metabolism) is a lifelong process where mature bone tissue is removed from the skeleton (a process called ''bone resorption'') and new bone tissue is formed (a process called ''ossification'' or ''new bone formation''). T ...

and

fracture healing Bone healing, or fracture healing, is a proliferative physiological process in which the body facilitates the repair of a bone fracture. Generally, bone fracture treatment consists of a doctor reducing (pushing) displaced bones back into place ...

developed by BoneSupport AB. * WTX101, an orphan drug currently in development by

Wilson Therapeutics Wilson Therapeutics is a biopharmaceutical company, based in Stockholm, Sweden, that develops novel therapies for rare diseases. The company is listed in the Mid-Cap segment on Nasdaq Stockholm with the stock ticker WTX. Wilson Therapeutics' lea ...

for the treatment of

Wilson's disease Wilson's disease is a genetic disorder in which excess copper builds up in the body. Symptoms are typically related to the brain and liver. Liver-related symptoms include vomiting, weakness, fluid build up in the abdomen, swelling of the legs, ...

.Ala A, Walker AP, Ashkan K, Dooley JS, Schilsky, ML (2007). "Wilson's disease". ''Lancet'' 369 (9559): 397-408.

References

External links

HealthCap website
{{private equity firms Venture capital firms of Sweden Private equity and venture capital investors Private equity firms of Sweden Life sciences industry