A dementia-focused transatlantic venture capital initiative has secured $269 million in commitments for its second fund.
The first Dementia Discovery Fund (DDF) was launched by VC firm SV Health Investors a decade ago with the goal of delivering new drug approaches for the disease-modifying treatment of dementia by 2025.
With that timeline reached, SV Health has now created a second DDF. Some of the $269 million in commitments for the latest fund has already been invested into four companies. The May 20 release didn’t reveal the identity of these biotechs, only saying they align with DDF’s “investment strategy of building and backing highly innovative biotech companies developing life-changing therapies for patients worldwide, to generate attractive returns.”
The ultimate goal of DDF-2 is to build a final portfolio of between 10 and 15 companies spread across the U.S., U.K. and Europe, according to the release. The previous fund, which had raised 250 million pounds ($333 million) by the time it closed in 2018, has contributed to over 50 different dementia-focused programs.
The latest fund drew in Big Pharma backers like Eli Lilly and Pfizer—who were namechecked in the first DDF—along with Bristol Myers Squibb. Other previous cornerstone investors that returned were AARP, British Business Bank and Gates Frontier, which were joined by the Alzheimer’s Association.
Recent years have seen Alzheimer’s drugs reach markets in the form of Lilly’s Kisunla and Eisai and Biogen’s Leqembi. However, these offerings have faced scepticism from regional regulators about their efficacy and potential side effects, as well as barriers to uptake in the U.S. due to healthcare infrastructure limitations and burdensome diagnostics.
“Drug development for dementia is thankfully gaining momentum since the launch of DDF and the first disease-modifying Alzheimer's drugs have been approved—underscoring that success is possible but that we still have far to go,” SV Health partner Jonathan Behr said in this morning’s release.
“With DDF-2, we have an exciting opportunity to make a real difference in the fight against dementia while delivering returns through investments in new treatments,” Behr added.