Intermediate Capital Group plc (ICG), the global alternative asset manager, announces it has hired a Life Sciences Investment team dedicated to investing in biotech companies in a strategic move to enter the broader healthcare sector. The team will focus on making equity investments in companies in the UK, Europe and North America.
The new strategy and team of five will be led by Dr Allan Marchington, who will become Managing Director and Head of ICG Life Sciences. The team will be based in London and Boston. Allan is joined by Dr Toby Sykes, Simon Tate, Dr Peter Kiener and Tracy Weightman. The team all previously worked together at Bridge Valley Ventures.
Commenting on the ambition for the new strategy, Benoît Durteste, CIO & CEO of ICG, said:
Biotech is a segment of the healthcare industry with particularly attractive and sustainable growth drivers. It is playing a central role in healthcare innovation, advancing differentiated and novel therapies in diseases of high unmet need. This strategic move is an extension of our long-standing track record of investing in more mature healthcare companies, and provides us an opportunity to invest in high quality and resilient assets with strong value creation potential that can positively and materially impact society. It will also allow us to take advantage of the UK’s leading position in European Life Sciences, whilst we look to develop the strategy in North America. There has never been a more important time to support innovation in this sector.
Allan Marchington and the team combine significant scientific, operational and investing experience in European and North American Life Sciences, from research through clinical development to commercialisation. They have an outstanding reputation on both sides of the Atlantic and are recognised thought leaders in their fields. The team is an excellent fit with ICG’s culture and will bring an important new investment dimension and significant expertise to ICG.
Allan Marchington said:
My colleagues and I are very excited to be joining ICG. We will be able to combine our deep experience of investing in successful Life Sciences companies with ICG’s long-standing track record in launching strong new investment strategies to build a highly attractive and scalable Life Sciences investment platform. It is an exciting time to be investing in this sector, which is on a significant growth trajectory today and over the next decades. The fundamental understanding of the underlying causes of chronic diseases allows for the development of new therapies which have the potential to dramatically improve patient outcomes. This, combined with ground-breaking technological advances, provides some exciting new investment opportunities.
Dr Allan Marchington has over three decades of experience in successfully founding, operating and investing in Life Sciences companies. Before founding Bridge Valley Ventures, he was a founding partner at Apposite Capital for over ten years. Prior to that, he successfully founded, led and sold Cambridge Discovery Chemistry, a pioneering biotech services company, and subsequently held leadership positions at Millennium Pharmaceuticals. He has invested in and managed biotech ventures in Europe and North America, and held board positions at a number of companies, including Convergence Pharmaceuticals where he worked with his colleague Simon Tate.
Dr Toby Sykes joins as Managing Director. Previously he was a Managing Partner at Syncona and a Managing Director at Essex Woodland, where he was responsible for sourcing and managing venture and growth investments across Europe and the North America. He has over 20 years of transaction experience in Life Sciences, including 13 years’ investment experience. He has held board positions at a number of Life Sciences companies.
Simon Tate joins as Managing Director. He is a pharmaceutical industry leader with over 30 years of experience in drug research and development and was a founding partner of Bridge Valley Ventures. Prior to his investment career, he held senior leadership roles in the therapeutic areas of Pain and Neuroscience at Biogen and GSK. Simon was one of the founders and Chief Scientific Officer of Convergence Pharmaceuticals, and became its CEO following its acquisition by Biogen. He is recognised as a thought leader in the Neuroscience and Pain Therapeutic Areas on both sides of the Atlantic.
Dr Peter Kiener is joining as a Venture Partner. He is a highly accomplished drug developer and pharmaceutical and biotech executive with more than 30 years of experience. He has held senior and executive positions at Bristol Myers Squibb and AstraZeneca, and previously held CSO / R&D leadership positions at Sucampo and Zyngenia. Prior to this, Peter was EVP of R&D and a member of the MedImmune executive team and MedImmune Ventures investment team before and after the sale of MedImmune to AstraZeneca. Peter is a renowned expert in the field of oncology, autoimmune, inflammatory diseases, and orphan and rare diseases.
Tracy Weightman joins the team as an Associate Director. Tracy has previous experience in biotech investing, company creation, drug development and business development. She has held positions at Epidarex Capital, Cancer Research UK, Edinburgh BioQuarter, Fulcrum Pharma and Quintiles.
For further information please contact:
Fiona Laffan
Global Head of Corporate Affairs
Tel: +44 (0)203 545 1510
Email: [email protected]
About ICG
ICG is a global alternative asset manager with over 30 years’ history.
We manage €46.1bn* of assets in private debt, credit and equity, principally in closed-end funds. We provide capital to help companies grow through private and public markets, developing long-term relationships with our business partners to deliver value for shareholders, clients and employees. We operate across four asset classes – corporate, capital market, real asset and secondary investments. In addition to growing existing strategies, we are committed to innovation and pioneering new strategies across these asset classes where the market opportunity exists.
ICG is listed on the London Stock Exchange (ticker symbol: ICP) and is a member of the FTSE100 Index. Further details are available at: www.icgam.com . You can follow ICG on LinkedIn.
*as at 30 September 2020
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