Gene&Cell Therapy >> Simone Song's ORI Capital closes $260M second fund after CG
Oncology success: Simone Song recalls discussing oncolytic virus therapies with her father and son “under the moonlight, like a family scientific symposium” in Southern California in 2014. After the intergenerational discussion, she posted to WeChat about the subject and, through business connections, was eventually led to Arthur Kuan.
Arthur Kuan
Song, then a managing director for Greater China healthcare investment banking at Goldman Sachs, would go on to launch her own healthcare VC firm, ORI Capital, a year later. And in 2017, ORI invested in the bladder cancer therapy at CG Oncology, which Kuan stepped into as CEO after previous management ran into troubles with a clinical hold, loss of a CDMO contract and cash reserves that withered to the point of just six weeks of runway, she said.
It was one of Song’s best bets as the California biotech sprinted out of the gates last month with a large, upsized IPO that demanded so much interest the stock $CGON popped 95% on its first day of trading.
Song looks to replicate the success with the final closing of a second fund, disclosed Thursday morning. At $260 million, ORI Capital plans to invest in more biotechs focused on cancer, metabolic diseases and neurodegenerative disorders, Song said in an interview with Endpoints News. Her parents were basic scientists and drug developers in the first two areas, she said.
Across those three areas — buckets that include some of the biggest diseases and leading causes of death in the world — ORI Capital will look at about eight to 10 modalities that it’s steeped in, Song said. That includes cell therapies, RNA therapies, protein degradation and stabilization, among others. It will also invest in diagnostics.
Most of the second fund had already been raised, with Song telling financial news service Mergermarket in 2021 that ORI looked to raise a total of $400 million. Last fall, Bloomberg reported the anticipated total would be $300 million.
The first fund came in at about $200 million, and it backed companies like CG, TriSalus Life Sciences, Orchard Therapeutics, Kymab and Semma Therapeutics. Many of them have exited already: TriSalus went public via SPAC last August; Orchard went the traditional IPO route but ran into hurdles with its lentiviral gene therapies and eventually sold to Kyowa Kirin last fall; whereas Kymab and Semma sold to Sanofi and Vertex, respectively.
ORI has also invested in cell therapy maker AffyImmune, which will begin raising a Series B later this year, Song said.
The Hong Kong-based firm is geography-agnostic, Song said, noting she spends about four or five months in the US each year, about two months in Europe and most of the remainder in Asia. Check sizes could be as large as $30 million to $40 million for each portfolio… #lucidquest #genetherapy #celltherapy
Proteomics Enthuasist
6moA visionary leader for sure, congrats Sourav.