Vivo Capital, a global investment firm focused exclusively on healthcare and life sciences, has closed the third cycle of its Vivo Opportunity Fund and its affiliates with over $740m in commitments.
The Public Fund invests in preclinical and clinical stage life sciences businesses that are developing or commercialising novel therapies for unmet medical needs.
Vivo Opportunity Fund is an evergreen fund with three-year investment cycles. The third cycle of Vivo Opportunity Fund will follow the same strategy as its first and second cycles, leveraging Vivo’s deep scientific and technical capabilities to invest in small- and mid-cap biotechnology and life sciences companies. The aim of these investments is to capture value from breakthroughs and clinical milestones.
The first two cycles of Vivo Opportunity Fund have invested in companies that went on to announce significant milestones, such as regulatory approvals, or that were subsequently acquired by global pharmaceutical companies.
Recent examples include Verona Pharmaceuticals and its Ohtuvayre™ treatment for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (approved by the FDA in 2024), Geron Corporation’s drug RYTELO™ for low-risk myelodysplastic syndrome (approved by the FDA in 2024), Avadel Pharmaceuticals and its Lumryz™ for narcolepsy (approved by the FDA in 2023) and, most recently, Soleno Therapeutics, which announced in March 2025 that its VYKAT™ XR treatment for Prader-Willi Syndrome has been approved for use by the FDA. This represents the first approved drug to treat the hallmark symptoms of this disease.
Vivo-backed companies that were acquired by major pharmaceutical businesses include Sierra Oncology (acquired by GSK for $1.9bn in 2022), Gracell Therapeutics (acquired by AstraZeneca for $1.2bn in 2023), RayzeBio (acquired by Bristol-Myers Squibb for $4.1bn in 2024), Chinook Therapeutics (acquired by Novartis for $3.2bn in 2023), and Kadmon (acquired by Sanofi for $1.9bn in 2021).
The Public Fund is part of the Firm’s wide aperture approach to identifying healthcare opportunities across geographies, stages of development and sub-sectors, and complements the venture capital and growth equity/buyout strategies that comprise Vivo’s multi-fund investment platform.
