London-headquartered investment firm Medicxi has unveiled a €500m ($580m) fund to back innovative biotechs, set against a backdrop of growing concern at the state of the commercial landscape in Europe compared to the US.
Medicxi, a self-ascribed European life sciences venture capital firm, has dubbed the fund Medicxi V, which will focus on an asset-centric investment model.
Medicxi will use the €500m kitty to continue supporting drug hunters and entrepreneurs in creating asset-focused biotechnology companies. The firm will also consider assisting existing companies no matter their stage of development, providing they offer strong asset value.
This marks Medicxi’s sixth fund raise with these having totalled over €2bn. The company has a strong history of backing companies that have gone onto have successful exits. There have even been three notable acquisitions since the last fundraise.
The most recent was Vicebio, a UK vaccine developer acquired by Sanofi for $1.6bn in July 2025 as the drugmaker tightened its vaccine pipeline. Eli Lilly spent $1.9bn to acquire Versanis Bio in July 2023, while Genmab acquired ProfoundBio for $1.8bn in May 2024.
In total, Medicxi has created 16 new companies since Medicxi IV in July 2023.
Giovanni Mariggi, co-founder and partner at Medicxi, told Pharmaceutical Technology that historically, the firm has invested approximately 75% of its capital into European assets and 25% on US assets.
For the current fund's allocation, Mariggi said: "We anticipate approximately 20-30% of the assets will be US-derived but we are not restricted by any geographical targets or limits in our capital allocation approach."
Medicxi’s co-founder and partner Francesco De Rubertis said the firm’s “unique ties to leading global pharmaceutical companies and its world-class team of drug hunters and clinicians” has helped create its longstanding success.
“The new €500m fund will enable Medicxi to provide the critical capital, expertise and experience to deliver transformative therapies for patients,” De Rubertis added.
Shortly after Medicxi announced its fund, Sofinnova Partners also unveiled its latest tranche for early-stage ventures. The Paris-headquartered firm closed a €650m fund, which it will use to fuel companies addressing “urgent unmet clinical needs.”
Europe’s call to arms for capital
The fund’s unveiling will be welcome news to a cooling European investment scene. Despite overall biotech venture funding increasing in the second half of 2025, European biotechs are struggling to capture the same capital as US counterparts.
Trade body Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) said in a report that the UK is at risk of losing its world-leading life sciences status due to investment being captured elsewhere on the international stage.
Concerns about the state of the UK commercial scene, for example, were heightened when MSD scrapped its £1bn London expansion plans.
The EU Biotech Act, a proposed initiative to boost competitiveness in the biotech sector, has been met with warm reception. EuropaBio, the European association for bioindustries, has called for the EU to adopt a “bold approach to investment” to close the gap between research and commercialisation.
This echoes remarks made by AstraZeneca CEO Pascal Soriot, who has urged European governments to increase investment in pharmaceutical innovation to bridge the imbalance towards the US.
Editor's note: This article was updated on 17 November to include comments from Giovanni Mariggi, co-founder and partner at Medicxi.
