Alta Partners Closes $130 Million Fund: Alta Partners NextGen Fund I, L.P.

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Alta Partners, a leader in healthcare venture capital, has closed a new $130 million fund: Alta Partners NextGen Fund I, L.P. This is the ninth fund in Alta Partners’ history and it will focus on the development of novel biotherapeutics and technology-enabled healthcare services. With the new fund’s closing, Alta Partners is reestablishing its position in the healthcare venture industry. Peter Hudson, MD, and Bob More joined Dan Janney as new managing directors at Alta in 2016 to raise this new fund.

“For more than 20 years, Alta Partners has invested in leading healthcare companies driving innovation and improving people’s lives,” said Dan Janney, managing director and a founding partner at Alta. “Bob and Pete bring a commitment to working with world-class entrepreneurs to tackle difficult problems that can make an enduring impact.” Prior to Alta, Mr. More served as senior advisor for The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, where he led the Global Health Venture Initiative after working for 20 years in venture capital. Dr. Hudson is a physician, entrepreneur, and investor with over two decades of experience founding and growing healthcare-related businesses. With the addition of Dr. Hudson and Mr. More, the managing directors of Alta Partners NextGen Fund I, L.P. collectively have more than 70 years of healthcare company creation and investment experience, adding to the firm’s historical performance of more than 114 mergers, acquisitions and IPOs. Alta’s recent successes include early investments in Esperion Pharmaceuticals, Kite Pharma and ZS Pharma.

This new fund will partner with exceptional entrepreneurs to create companies in two primary areas:

• Application of groundbreaking biotechnologies to cure or radically change disease
• Technology-enabled solutions and services that improve delivery and quality of healthcare

“With $2 billion in investments raised over nine funds and $27 billion in created value, Alta Partners has become renowned for its life sciences investments, and we will continue to leverage those successes in our new fund,” said Mr. More. “As the healthcare industry experiences unprecedented change in delivery and payment reform, we see tremendous opportunities to impact healthcare with improved solutions.” Dr. Hudson added: “We are seeking next generation, technology-enabled healthcare solutions. We see data and technology accelerating innovation in all sectors of healthcare delivery, allowing for patient and provider engagement that will create significant efficiencies and drive unprecedented value.”

The initial investments of the Alta Partners NextGen Fund I, L.P. include:

• Allakos:
  • A private, clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of antibodies for the treatment of allergic, inflammatory and proliferative diseases
  • Dr. Robert Alexander, former CEO of ZS Pharma, is CEO
• DispatchHealth:
  • A provider of mobile and virtual healthcare with a goal to create an integrated, convenient, high-touch care delivery solution that extends the capabilities of a patient’s care team. It is led by CEO Mark Prather, MD
  • Provides definitive, quality care in the home while decreasing costs
• eGenesis:
  • A life sciences company with the mission to use gene editing technology to transform xenotransplantation into an everyday, life-saving procedure
  • The company was founded by Dr. George Church and Dr. Luhan Yang, the latter of whom was named “30 Under 30” by Forbes and “Young Global Leader” by the World Economic Forum
• Vir Biotechnology:
  • New therapeutic platform using breakthroughs in immune programming to manipulate pathogen-host interactions
  • Strong partnership with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and a broad range of investors, including ARCH and SoftBank
  • The company has attracted a world-class team, including CEO George Scangos, former CEO of Biogen Idec

For more information, visit www.AltaPartners.com.

About Alta Partners

Founded in 1996, Alta Partners is one of the nation’s premier healthcare venture capital firms, investing in many of the industry’s most successful companies. Alta has offices in San Francisco and Denver. For more information, please visit www.AltaPartners.com.

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