Oxford Partners and Fairfield Venture Partners said Thursdaythat they plan to raise $50 million for a new fund, OxfordBioscience Partners.

The new fund will focus on health care and bioscience ventureinvestments, annually funding about four or five companiesfrom early to late stages of development. Individual companieswould receive between $1 million and $5 million, said EdmundOlivier, a partner at Costa Mesa, Calif.-based Fairfield.

Olivier told BioWorld that fund-raising efforts will begin atthe end of the year.

The combined health care portfolio of Stamford, Conn.-basedOxford and Fairfield includes more than 25 companies, with atotal current value of $100 million. Oxford Bioscience Partnerswill serve as a follow-on fund for both firms.

Along with Olivier, general partners for Oxford BiosciencePartners will be Cornelius Ryan and Alan Walton of Oxford.

This is Oxford's second attempt at joint fund raising. In June1990, Oxford and Matuschka Venture Partners formed theInternational Bioscience Fund, hoping to raise about $50million. That effort was dropped for strategic reasons, Oliviersaid.

The non-health care venture activities of both Oxford andFairfield will continue to be managed by other partners of theoriginal firms and will retain their separate structure. --Karen Bernstein

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