Abingworth, a life sciences investment firm backed by private investment major Carlyle, is seeking to raise up to $1.5bn for a new fund aimed at financing late-stage clinical trials, according to a report by the Financial Times.
The report cites unnamed sources familiar with matter as revealing that the new fund will look to partner with major pharmaceutical companies in exchange for a share of royalties from future drugs.
Abingworth plans to support as many as eight late-stage clinical trials through the fund. Carlyle, which acquired Abingworth in 2022, will participate as a limited partner in the fund, the FT’s sources added.
Abingworth’s latest fundraising comes on the heels of two significant royalty deals struck earlier this year. In February, the firm partnered with Gilead Sciences to support the development of Trodelvy, a cancer drug already approved for treating breast cancer, as part of a $210m collaboration. The funding will help test the drug’s potential for treating lung cancer.
In April, Abingworth inked another deal, agreeing to fund clinical research for an asthma inhaler with Israeli pharmaceutical company Teva, in a partnership worth up to $150m.
