Pictured: A sign on a J.P. Morgan building in Hong Kong/iStock, danielvfung
J.P. Morgan Private Capital announced Thursday that it has closed its first biotechnology-focused capital fund, securing over $500 million from various backers.
The fund, called 270 Life Sciences Private Capital Fund I, attracted “strong support” from investors including family offices, corporate partners, institutional allocators and “high net worth individuals,” according to the announcement. JPMorgan Chase & Co. also contributed.
The fund will focus its investments on private biotechnology companies and will be agnostic about the stage, modality, geography and therapeutic area of the investment. However, in an interview with Endpoints News, Stephen Squinto, chief investment officer and managing partner of J.P. Morgan Life Sciences Private Capital, said that the fund wants to make 20 to 25 investments primarily with early-stage companies.
Early investments will target biotechs in the cardiometabolic disease, immunology, oncology and genetic medicine spaces. The fund is led by Squinto and managing partner Gaurav Gupta.
“As investors and company builders, we are strongly positioned at J.P. Morgan Private Capital to identify and support highly innovative companies that can shape the future of how patients are treated. Our mission is to capitalize companies and utilize our collective experience to guide them towards successful outcomes and mentor a new generation of biotechnology founders and executives,” Squinto said in a statement.
J.P. Morgan has been actively building its presence in the biotech funding space over the past few years. In 2022, J.P. Morgan Asset Management launched the life science-focused private equity team to support early and growth-stage biotechs. In April 2024, J.P. Morgan Asset Management’s Private Capital Division announced that it had raised a $100 million Series A round for Enlaza Therapeutics, with the funding aimed at advancing a covalent biological platform and pipeline for novel protein drugs.
Other VC firms have been committing to sizable funds to invest more heavily in life sciences and biotech. In January 2024, Goldman Sachs Asset Management announced it closed its first $650 million life science fund called West Street Life Sciences I. Initially, the fund committed around $90 million to five biotechs including MOMA Therapeutics, Nested Therapeutics, TORL Biotherapeutics, Septerna and Rapport Therapeutics.
On Wednesday, Foresite Capital closed its sixth fund with $900 million in commitments to invest in growth-oriented biotechs in precision therapeutics, healthcare delivery and life science infrastructure.
Tyler Patchen is a staff writer at BioSpace. You can reach him at tyler.patchen@biospace.com. Follow him on LinkedIn.
