BioWorld International Correspondent

ABN Amro NV has spun out its life sciences venture capital activity to form a new entity, Forbion Capital Partners, which starts life with €200 million (US$260 million) under management.

That total includes ABN Amro's existing life sciences portfolio of investments in 26 companies, which was valued at €90 million in the deal. More than half of the remaining €110 million in cash commitments will be available for new investments, said Bart Bergstein, managing partner at Forbion, which is based in Naarden, the Netherlands. About €30 million will be retained for follow-on investments in the existing portfolio of companies.

The decision by Amsterdam, the Netherlands-based ABN Amro to exit the life sciences field was motivated by a long-term decision to focus on mid-stage buyouts. "Actually, they were always quite comfortable with the asset class, as we always delivered good returns to ABN Amro," Bergstein said.

Moreover, the banking group is retaining a life sciences presence indirectly, since it is underwriting 25 percent of Forbion's funds. The remainder is being underwritten by Coller Capital, a London-based private equity secondaries fund, although Coller will syndicate half of its exposure, Bergstein said. "We want a broad, high-quality investor base."

Forbion's portfolio consists of about 70 percent drug development companies and 30 percent medical technology firms. Its focus includes the U.S., as well as Europe. "If you don't invest transatlantically, you don't get business plans from both sides, so you're partially blind to competition," Bergstein said. Forbion aims to invest in companies offering an exit opportunity in three to four years, to match the profile of its existing portfolio.

Recent investments led by the Forbion team - while under the ABN Amro Capital Life Sciences banner - include a €40 million series B round in Hørsholm, Denmark-based Santaris Pharma A/S, which is developing therapeutics based on its proprietary locked nucleic acid chemistry; a €22 million round in gene therapy specialist Amsterdam Molecular Therapeutics (AMT) BV, of Amsterdam; and a €13 million round in antibody developer PanGenetics BV, of Utrecht, the Netherlands.

The market at present is attractive, Bergstein said. "You can still acquire companies at attractive prices. There is still a scarcity of capital." Moreover, exit opportunities are getting "better and better," he said, citing the recent acquisition of San Francisco-based Sirna Therapeutics, Inc., by Merck & Co., Inc., of Whitehouse Station, N.J., for $1.1 billion. "This is very novel technology."