Sofinnova Finds Unexpected Investor Interest in Health Care

Earlier this month, Silicon Valley fund Prospect Venture Partners made a very unusual move: It essentially returned $150 million in commitments from its investor partners—money that had been targeted for its fourth health care fund.

Back in 2010, Prospect had set out to raise $250 million for the venture, but by October it concluded that it just hadn't collected enough money to execute its strategy, according to VentureWire.

But rival Sofinnova Ventures, also based in Silicon Valley, had the exact opposite experience. Sofinnova has raised $440 million, the largest venture fund in the life-sciences space so far this year.

And not only did it manage to raise these impressive funds to funnel into health care companies and drugmakers, but it also raised $115 million more than it anticipated, reports Bloomberg.

Say what? Not only is that a complete opposite from Prospect's plight, but it's also outstanding for the industry as a whole. Drugmakers and health care companies aren't exactly hot targets at the moment.

According to a recent survey from the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA), 39 percent of U.S. funds have decreased their investment in life sciences over the last three years, and that same percentage plan to continue moving away from the industry in the future.

So how did Sofinnova win over investors while Prospect had to admit defeat? The difference could have come down to strategy, said Mark Heesen, president of the NVCA. (Representatives of Sofinnova and Prospect did not immediately return calls for comment.)

"Sofinnova thinks they will be able to invest in enough companies and hold back enough money to cover the losses of companies that don't make it," Heesen said. "Prospect looked [the data] and said, 'The runway is so long right now, and we don't know if we'll have enough money for later rounds."

Heesen also pointed out that Sofinnova tends to invest internationally, which might give it a leg up in fundraising over the more nationally based Prospect.

Whatever the reason, one thing seems to be clear: There are success stories even in the most confusing of times for venture capital.

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Kirsten Grind covers venture capital, private equity and money matters for Portfolio.com.