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  • “The capital and time efficiencies gained by the unique investment model at TVM allow management to focus solely on product development and value building.”

    Caroline Fortier, PhD, CEO, Multiple early-stage biotech companies

  • Investing in the most promising life science opportunities

    Always focused on improving patient lives and building value for investors

At the heart of TVM is our unique industry breakthrough investment strategy. This dual approach combines investing in commercial-stage medtech, diagnostics and digital health and late-stage therapeutics along with a single-asset, project-focused company approach to investing in early-stage therapeutics. For our early-stage investments, we have a strategic partnership with global pharmaceutical firm Eli Lilly and Company (Lilly).

This two-pronged strategy was launched with our TVM Life Science Innovation I (TVM LSI I) fund and validated by the successful and oversubscribed fundraising for TVM LSI II, TVM’s second and so far largest fund to apply this innovative approach.

Our approach

  • We take a unique approach to investing in innovative early-stage therapeutics that is capital efficient and asset centric and increases the likelihood of a successful exit.

    We form a new company around a single asset – what we call a project-focused company (PFC). This strategy has proven to be highly capital efficient through significant outsourcing and low overhead investment while creating the opportunity for faster exits through a trade sale to a pharmaceutical player looking to build its pipeline without the need to acquire legacy companies around the products that appeal to them.

    With strategic partner Lilly, TVM brings together the deal sourcing and transaction experience of a leading venture capital firm with access to innovations and the product development expertise of a large pharmaceutical company to reach clinical proof of concept efficiently and cost effectively.

    TVM focuses on assets in indications with high unmet medical need, such as oncology, immunology, diabetes and related metabolic complications, CNS/neurodegeneration, pain, and cardio-vascular diseases, as well as rare diseases, areas that are of high interest to pharmaceutical companies.

  • With its late-stage investment focus, the second prong of TVM’s investment strategy, TVM looks for differentiated medtech, diagnostics and digital health with commercial proof of concept, as well as late-stage therapeutics expected to quickly reach major development or regulatory milestones.

    We focus on companies with products that are clearly differentiated and add value to current standard of care. For that, a company should be able to reach a significant inflection point in less than four years with several strategic buyers feasible or a potential strategic M&A-enabling milestone in 24 months. TVM prefers to anchor investments, acting as sole or lead investor.

Our Track Record – Investments in breakthrough innovation for the
benefit of patients
Our long successful track record supports our approach of investing in lasting partnerships with life science companies, not just providing capital.

With TVM LSI I and TVM LSI II, TVM continues to build a portfolio of differentiated first-in-class and best-in-class assets in various indications and stages of development, validated by successful exits and value delivered to patients and investors.

AurKa Pharma Inc.
TVM LSI I

Aurka Pharma was created to develop an aurora kinase A inhibitor (AK-01). Originally discovered at Lilly, the company licensed the compound to TVM. Just 1.5 years after TVM’s initial investment and a total investment by TVM of US$11 million, Lilly acquired Aurka Pharma based on Phase 1 data. The deal was executed in under 10 weeks and included US$110 million upfront and up to US$465 million in milestones. This successful exit was proof of the value of TVM’s PFC model.

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CoLucid Pharmaceuticals
TVM LSI I

Attracted by a late-stage first-in-class asset – an oral 5-HT1F agonist (lasmiditan) for the acute treatment of migraines, representing the first new mechanism of action for this indication in over 20 years – TVM led a mezzanine round of US$37 million in January 2015, with participation from top tier co-investors in addition to all of CoLucid’s existing investors. Just a few months later, CoLucid achieved a successful IPO on Nasdaq, raising US$55 million. Following positive Phase 3 data, Lilly acquired CoLucid for $960 million. The CoLucid investment was proof of the value of TVM’s late-stage strategy.

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Acanthas Pharma, Inc.
TVM LSI II

Acanthas was developing an oral small molecule targeting a mutation involved in multiple cancers, in particular acute myeloid leukemia, sarcomas and gliomas. Following new pre-clinical data, the company was acquired by Eli Lilly.

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