Abingworth (company)

Abingworth LLP (formerly Abingworth Management Ltd) is a London-based independent venture capital firm and registered investment advisory firm founded in 1973 by a pair of London , Peter Dicks and Anthony Montagu. Abingworth had initially sought to extend its investments into the biotechnology industry in the late 1980s, and has subsequently been investing in life science and healthcare services companies since at least 2001, and had expanded to include information technology firm investments by 2016.

In addition to its base in London, the company had a second office in Palo Alto as of 2001. By 2016, the Palo Alto office had been replaced by an office in Menlo Park, and an additional offices had been established in Boston and Cambridge.

The company's investment strategy involves the establishment of funds with particular investment targets in mind. For instance, the "Bioventures VI" fund was "closed" in March 2014, having accrued $375 million, reportedly exceeding the "target" for the fund. A key element in the firm's investment strategy is the exit, which signifies the acquisition of or initial public offering by a company in which the firm has invested.

Prior to 1987, Abingworth had made investments, considered by 2016 to have been successful, in Apple and Silicon Graphics.

The firm created its biotech investment arm in 1987. Among the first investments was in Immunology Ltd, which was later renamed to Cantab Pharmaceuticals. In 2000, the company joined several others in providing funding for Oxagen. In the early 2000s, the firm invested in and saw forward to initial public offering a number of firms, including Dicerna Pharmaceuticals and Clovis Oncology. The firm has also provided funding to support the acquisition of Algeta by Bayer and Avila Therapeutics by Celgene. In the Algeta case, this was the very first of the firm's venture investments in public equities, dating to February 2009.

In 2013, the firm realized an exit from investment in Syntaxin Ltd when it was acquired by Ipsen SA.

...
Wikipedia