Lightstone Ventures has closed its third fund – its largest to date – with $375m to fund early stage biopharmaceutical and medical technology companies after several successful exits via initial public offerings and acquisitions. General partner Jason Lettmann said in an interview with Scrip that a significant rise in mergers and acquisitions may depend on a slowdown in the IPO market, although certain drug developers will continue to be able to go public.
Significant Lightstone Exits
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Rare CNS disorders specialist Ra Pharmaceuticals, Inc., which UCB S.A. acquired for $2.1bn in 2019 after the firm went public in 2016. (Also see "UCB To Buy Ra for $2.1bn And Plays Down Antitrust Fears" - Scrip, 10 October, 2019.)
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Eli Lilly and Company agreed to pay $135m up front and up to $1.36bn in total for CNS-focused Disarm Therapeutics in October. (Also see "Lilly Tries New Neuro Approach With Disarm Buyout" - Scrip, 15 October, 2020.)
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ALX Oncology, Inc. grossed $161.5m in an IPO in July of last year. (Also see "Finance Watch: One Week Of IPOs Total $818.2m" - Scrip, 17 July, 2020
Lightstone, which announced the closing of Lightstone Ventures III on 14 September, will continue to participate in new company formation and in venture capital syndicates backing series A funding rounds, Lettmann said
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