Vivo Capital—a leading global investment firm focused exclusively on healthcare and life sciences—announced it has closed the third cycle of its Vivo Opportunity Fund and its affiliates with over $740 million in commitments. The Public Fund invests in preclinical and clinical-stage life sciences businesses developing or commercializing novel therapies for unmet medical needs.
Vivo Opportunity Fund is an evergreen fund with three-year investment cycles. This third cycle of Vivo Opportunity Fund will follow the same strategy as the first and second cycles, utilizing Vivo’s scientific and technical capabilities to invest in small- and mid-cap biotechnology and life sciences companies. These investments aim to capture value from breakthroughs and clinical milestones.
The first two cycles of Vivo Opportunity Fund successfully invested in companies that went on to announce significant milestones like regulatory approvals or that were subsequently acquired by global pharmaceutical companies. And recent examples include Verona Pharmaceuticals and its Ohtuvayre treatment for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (approved by the FDA in 2024), Geron Corporation’s drug RYTELO for low-risk myelodysplastic syndrome (approved by the FDA in 2024), Avadel Pharmaceuticals and its Lumryz for narcolepsy (approved by the FDA in 2023, and most recently, Soleno Therapeutics, which announced in March 2025 that its VYKAT XR treatment for Prader-Willi Syndrome has been approved for use by the FDA.
This represents the first approved drug to treat the disease’s hallmark symptoms. And Vivo-backed companies that were acquired by major pharmaceutical businesses include Sierra Oncology (acquired by GSK for $1.9 billion in 2022), Gracell Therapeutics (acquired by AstraZeneca for $1.2 billion in 2023), RayzeBio, Inc. (acquired by Bristol-Myers Squibb for $4.1 billion in 2024), Chinook Therapeutics (acquired by Novartis for $3.2 billion in 2023) and Kadmon (acquired by Sanofi for $1.9 billion in 2021).
Since being founded in 1996, Vivo’s goal has been to find and support the most promising healthcare companies globally to solve impactful healthcare issues. The Public Fund is part of the firm’s wide aperture approach to identifying healthcare opportunities across geographies, stages of development and sub-sectors, and complements the venture capital and growth equity/buyout strategies that comprise Vivo’s multi-fund investment platform.
KEY QUOTES:
“As with its predecessors, the third cycle of the Vivo Opportunity Fund brings a venture capital mindset to the public markets, combining our long-term capital with our deep industry knowledge and experience to capture value for our investors. This strategy supports our approach of looking for the best opportunities across the entire healthcare spectrum.”
Kevin Dai, Managing Director at Vivo Capital
“Vivo has been investing in healthcare and life sciences for almost 30 years, demonstrating consistency and supporting innovation across market cycles. We are extremely grateful to the entrepreneurs who enable the innovations we identify and for the support for Vivo Opportunity Fund that has been shown by our existing and new partners alike. We aim to repay this trust and confidence by consistently finding attractive opportunities across the public markets.”
Dr. Gaurav Aggarwal, Managing Partner at Vivo Capital
