US$471m for cancer research fund

With the money, UBS plans to expand its portfolio of products, offering social as well as financial returns. The Swiss bank, which is co-headquartered in Zurich and Basel, launched the Oncology Impact Fund in October 2015. Now it will collaborate with MPM Capital, a Boston-based bio-venture fund manager that will advise UBS in its investments. MPM specialises in identifying breakthrough therapies and establishing companies to advance them. The venture project aims to narrow the gap between early-stage drug development and future investment from pharma companies.

The fund plans to invest in 10 to 20 early-stage oncology drugs, with an initial investment of about US$10m (€9m) each, Reuters reports. UBS says it will place a portion of the royalties generated by the successful drugs towards academic grants for oncology-related research and access to cancer care in developing countries. The fund aims to create a “defined positive social impact” in what is called “impact investing”.

UBS did not name individual investors in the fund, but half of the investors stem from Asia. UBS said participants have agreed to lock up funds for five years and make a minimum investment of US$200m (€175m).

In a statement UBS declares that oncology is an attractive area for investors due to the high source of capital in the field, hence many cancer biotechs have successfully raised major VC sums in recent years. Compared to other medicines, the cancer drug market is developing faster due to ageing populations, as well as the growing middle classes with access to medical care in emerging economies.