18 min read

Fund of the week: HealthCap IX

Fund of the week: HealthCap IX
Photo by Adrian Curiel / Unsplash

Overview and Investment Focus

HealthCap is not a generalist European venture capital firm — it is one of the oldest, most consistent life sciences specialists on the continent. Founded in Stockholm in 1996 by Björn Odlander and Peder Fredrikson, the firm has raised nine successive funds, financed more than 130 companies, taken more than 47 of them public across fourteen different markets, and contributed to the approval of 35 pharmaceutical products that have collectively reached over five million patients. HealthCap IX is the firm's current and ninth fund, actively deploying capital as of March 2026.

Investment Thesis: HealthCap's strategy is built on a single, durable conviction: that precision medicine and breakthrough therapeutics targeting high unmet medical need can generate both transformative patient outcomes and strong financial returns. The firm invests predominantly in early- and mid-stage companies developing targeted therapies for rare diseases, oncology, and genetic conditions where existing treatments are inadequate or nonexistent. Precision medicine — matching the right therapy to the right molecular or genetic patient subgroup — is a cornerstone of the selection framework. HealthCap invests globally, with a European base and meaningful US exposure, and its team takes active board seats in virtually every portfolio company, contributing scientific, clinical, and commercial guidance alongside capital.

Geographically, the firm is headquartered at Engelbrektsplan 1 in Stockholm, with a secondary office at Avenue Villamont 23 in Lausanne, Switzerland. HealthCap IX has added a third operational foothold: following a €48 million investment from Novo Holdings and the Export and Investment Fund of Denmark (EIFO) in April 2025, HealthCap committed to establishing a presence at the BioInnovation Institute (BII) in Copenhagen to deepen its Nordic deal flow.


From a Stockholm Startup to One Billion Euros Under Management

Björn Odlander and Peder Fredrikson founded HealthCap in 1996 after Odlander had spent several years as head of healthcare equity research at ABB Aros Securities, where he was voted best pharmaceutical analyst four years running by Affärsvärlden. The first fund launched the same year, making HealthCap one of Europe's earliest dedicated life sciences venture firms. The founding logic was straightforward: European biotech was dramatically underfinanced relative to the US, and a team with deep scientific and clinical expertise could identify and build the companies that would bridge that gap.

The fund history reflects both consistent capital raising and a gradual scale-up as the track record accumulated. HealthCap I through IV were relatively small vehicles — sub-€100 million — characteristic of European life sciences venture in the late 1990s and 2000s. The profile of confirmed limited partners across the fund series includes the European Investment Fund, Skandia Life Insurance, the 4th and 6th Swedish National Pension Funds, The Kresge Foundation, Mayo Clinic, Northwestern University, University of Michigan, Vanderbilt University, and Washington University — a roster that reflects the firm's reputation among US university endowments and institutional investors as a credible European specialist.

HealthCap VIII, the predecessor fund, closed in 2019 with a target of approximately $277.5 million, of which roughly $209.3 million was confirmed in early filings from 18 investors. HealthCap IX is the ninth successive vehicle and, based on Crunchbase data and LinkedIn materials, brings the firm's total committed capital to over €1.2 billion since inception. The fund is actively raising and investing as of March 2026, with the Novo Holdings and EIFO commitment in April 2025 providing the most recent publicly disclosed LP contribution at €48 million.

Fund Approximate Vintage Notes
HealthCap I–IV 1996–2008 Early-stage Nordic focus; sub-€100M vehicles
HealthCap V–VI ~2011–2014 Expanded US exposure; key Algeta investment
HealthCap VII ~2016 Fusion Pharmaceuticals co-founded
HealthCap VIII 2019 ~$277.5M target; Lausanne office opened
HealthCap IX 2022–ongoing Copenhagen hub added; €48M Novo/EIFO investment (Apr 2025)

Mårten Steen, Managing Partner, stated at the time of the Novo Holdings and EIFO announcement: "The investments from Novo Holdings and EIFO not only enhance HealthCap's ability to support transformative healthcare companies but also reinforce the Nordic region's position as a global leader in life science innovation and entrepreneurship."


Strategic Differentiators

Several features distinguish HealthCap from the broader European life sciences venture landscape.

Scientific Depth as a Selection Filter: HealthCap's partners bring unusually direct scientific and clinical credentials. Managing Partner Björn Odlander holds an MD and PhD from Karolinska Institutet. Managing Partner Mårten Steen holds an MD and PhD in clinical chemistry, has co-authored sixteen peer-reviewed papers, and worked in global business development at Merck Serono before rejoining the firm. Partners Carl Kilander (MD PhD, Karolinska/Harvard), Johan Christenson (MD PhD in neuroscience, AstraZeneca background), and Carl-Johan Dalsgaard (MD PhD, former VP at Astra Pain Control) give the firm real clinical development judgment at the partner level — not just financial structuring expertise. This scientific density is considered a genuine differentiator versus generalist European VCs or US firms investing in European biotech without equivalent medical credentials.

Active Ownership Through Board Representation: HealthCap's stated model is that one or more partners take board seats in every portfolio company. The firm uses its network of pharmaceutical executives, academic scientists, and clinicians to recruit experienced management teams — a particularly valuable function in the European biotech ecosystem, where CEO talent for early-stage companies can be scarce. Venture Partners Carl-Johan Dalsgaard and Eugen Steiner (MD PhD, clinical pharmacology) routinely serve as interim or founding CEOs of portfolio companies, providing operational continuity while permanent management is recruited.

Co-Founding Model: HealthCap does not limit itself to investing in externally founded companies. A number of its most active current portfolio positions — Tribune Therapeutics and Mahzi Therapeutics are explicit examples — were co-founded by HealthCap alongside scientific founders and experienced CEOs. This gives the firm greater influence over founding team composition, IP ownership, and strategic direction from day one.

Radiopharmaceutical Expertise: Over three fund cycles, HealthCap has built a differentiated track record in targeted radiopharmaceuticals. Algeta ASA (Xofigo, alpha-emitting radium-223 for bone metastasis in prostate cancer) was backed through IPO and sold to Bayer for $2.9 billion in 2014. Fusion Pharmaceuticals (targeted alpha therapies) was co-founded by HealthCap VII in 2017 and acquired by AstraZeneca in 2024 for $2.4 billion. HealthCap IX maintains active positions in Precirix (Belgium; nanobody-based radiopharmaceuticals for HER2-positive cancer) and Ariceum Therapeutics (Germany; satoreotide targeting SSTR2 in neuroendocrine tumors and small cell lung cancer), representing a deliberate continuation of this thematic thread.

Nordic Ecosystem Anchor: HealthCap is broadly considered the most established life sciences venture franchise originating from the Nordic region, with a track record stretching back nearly thirty years. The April 2025 Copenhagen expansion — institutionalized through a presence at the BioInnovation Institute — reinforces its position as the primary international bridge between Nordic academic research and global venture capital, a positioning explicitly cited by EIFO Investment Manager Rikke Michaela Greve.


Portfolio of Key Current Companies

HealthCap IX is actively deploying across early- to mid-stage biotech companies in oncology, rare diseases, and breakthrough therapeutics. The following represents the fund's most significant active and recent positions based on publicly available information as of March 2026.

Current Portfolio — Selected Key Companies

Company Country Focus Stage / Status Notable Data
Adcendo ApS Denmark ADCs targeting uPARAP for sarcoma, TNBC, pancreatic cancer Private; Series B Led $135M Series B (Nov 2024) alongside Venrock and TPG
Kivu Bioscience Netherlands/USA Next-gen ADC linker-payload technology for oncology Private; Series A $92M Series A (Oct 2024); Phase 1 of KIVU-107 (PTK7 ADC) initiated
Tribune Therapeutics AB Sweden CCN protein fusion for fibrotic disease Private; early-stage Co-founded by HealthCap; €37M Seed/Series A (Mar 2025); Georg Vo Beiske as CEO
SynOx Therapeutics Ireland Emactuzumab (anti-CSF1R) for tenosynovial giant cell tumor Private; Series B €84.8M Series B (Oct 2024); Roche-licensed antibody
Precirix Belgium Nanobody-radioisotope conjugates for HER2+ cancer Private; clinical CAM-H2 in clinical evaluation; spin-off from Vrije Universiteit Brussel
Ariceum Therapeutics Germany Satoreotide (SSTR2 antagonist) for neuroendocrine tumors, SCLC Private; clinical Alpha and beta radiopharmaceutical programs
Hemab Therapeutics Denmark Bi-specific antibodies for Glanzmann's thrombasthenia and rare bleeding disorders Private Latest HealthCap investment (Oct 2025)
HelloBetter Germany Evidence-based digital therapeutics for mental health Private €6M+ funding (Mar 2025); DiGA-approved programs in Germany
Vicore Pharma Sweden VP01 (C21, AT2R modulator) for IPF and rare lung diseases Listed (Nasdaq Stockholm) AlmeeTM FDA Breakthrough Device Designation for digital therapy in PF
Oncopeptides AB Sweden Pepaxti (melflufen) peptidase-targeting for relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma Listed (Nasdaq Stockholm) EMA and MHRA approved; rights issue ongoing (Feb 2026)
Mahzi Therapeutics USA Gene therapy and RNA-based therapy for rare neurodevelopmental disorders Private; seed Co-founded by HealthCap and Ultragenyx
Spruce Biosciences USA Tildacerfont for congenital adrenal hyperplasia and PCOS Private; clinical CRF1 receptor antagonist in Phase 2/3
Rampart Biosciences USA Non-viral DNA-based gene therapy for rare genetic diseases Private Re-dosable platform with differentiated safety profile

Notable Historical Exits

Company Acquirer / Event Value Year
Actelion (Tracleer, Opsumit, Uptravi) Johnson & Johnson $30 billion 2017
Algeta ASA (Xofigo) Bayer $2.9 billion 2014
Fusion Pharmaceuticals (targeted alpha therapy) AstraZeneca $2.4 billion (incl. CVR) 2024
Wilson Therapeutics Alexion ~$855 million 2018
Jerini AG (Firazyr) Shire ~$530 million 2008
CoreValve (transcatheter aortic valve) Medtronic 2009
ChemoCentryx (Tavneos, avacopan) Listed; pipeline exit

Portfolio Analysis

HealthCap's current portfolio clusters into three primary scientific themes, all consistent with the firm's stated precision medicine mandate.

Targeted Oncology and Radiotheranostics: The largest and most consistently active cluster spans oncology through multiple modalities. The ADC strand — Adcendo (uPARAP-targeting ADCs from Copenhagen University), Kivu Bioscience (next-generation linker-payload ADCs) — reflects active bets on a modality that has seen significant clinical and commercial validation since Enhertu and Trodelvy. The radiopharmaceutical continuation through Precirix and Ariceum builds directly on the Algeta and Fusion playbook: nanobody or peptide targeting moieties delivering radioactive payloads to tumors with precision. This cluster carries the most compelling valuation potential, given the demonstrated appetite of large pharma — Bayer, AstraZeneca — to pay multi-billion dollar premiums for validated radiopharmaceutical assets.

Rare Diseases and Genetic Medicine: Hemab (rare bleeding disorders), Mahzi (rare neurodevelopmental diseases), Spruce (congenital adrenal hyperplasia), Rampart (non-viral gene therapy), and Tribune (fibrosis) all represent precision disease targeting in small, defined patient populations with high pricing power. This is a deliberate continuation of HealthCap's historical strategy — Jerini (hereditary angioedema), Wilson Therapeutics (Wilson disease), and Ultragenyx (multiple rare diseases) all followed the same template.

Digital Therapeutics and Disease Monitoring: A smaller but growing strand includes HelloBetter (evidence-based digital CBT programs with German DiGA reimbursement), Elsa Science (digital companion for rheumatoid arthritis), Doctrin (digital patient journey platform), and Vicore's digital therapy Almee (FDA Breakthrough Device for pulmonary fibrosis). This strand does not represent HealthCap's historical strength — the firm's brand is built on therapeutics, not health technology — but it reflects a recognition that chronic disease management increasingly involves software-delivered interventions alongside pharmaceutical treatment.

The most striking feature of the current active portfolio is the density of ADC and radiopharmaceutical investments. Between Adcendo, Kivu, Precirix, and Ariceum, HealthCap IX holds four distinct oncology precision payload positions — more thematic concentration than any prior HealthCap fund.


Fund Structure, Fundraising, and Limited Partners

Legal and Operational Structure

HealthCap IX operates as a conventional closed-end limited partnership fund with a ten-year term, consistent with the structure that has governed each of the firm's prior eight vehicles. The investment advisor entity is the Odlander Fredrikson Group, which has served as HealthCap's exclusive investment advisor since the firm's founding — a structure that concentrates investment decision-making within the founding and senior partner group rather than distributing it across a broader corporate hierarchy. Day-to-day fund management and investment activity is run from Stockholm, while Swiss fund administration, compliance, and regulatory functions are handled from the Lausanne office under Fabrice Bernhard, General Manager and certified Swiss CPA, who has led HealthCap's Swiss investment management companies since 2018 after an international career at EY.

The funds themselves are understood to be domiciled outside Sweden to serve international institutional LPs efficiently — a structure common among European life sciences VCs seeking to hold assets across multiple European and US jurisdictions. HealthCap VIII LP, for example, was formally registered in Delaware in the United States, as reflected in public records, while HealthCap's general partnership and investment advisor entities are Swedish. This dual-jurisdiction approach is standard for funds raising from US institutional LPs who require US-domiciled fund vehicles for their own regulatory and tax purposes. The Lausanne presence also provides a Swiss regulatory footprint for European institutional investors subject to AIFMD (the EU Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive), which governs the marketing of alternative investment funds to European professional investors.

The firm's general partners commit capital alongside LPs in each fund, as is conventional for European life sciences VC. No public disclosure of the GP commitment percentage for HealthCap IX exists, but the typical range in European mid-sized life sciences funds is 1–3% of total committed capital.

How HealthCap Refinances Itself: The Fund Cycle

HealthCap's fundraising model follows the classic closed-end VC cycle: raise a fund, invest it over three to four years, support portfolio companies through the harvest period, return capital to LPs through exits (IPO distributions, trade sales, or secondary sales), and then raise the next fund. At nearly thirty years and nine successive vehicles, the firm has completed this cycle eight times — a continuity that is itself a fundraising asset, as LPs with prior fund commitments representing demonstrated IRRs are the most natural source of new commitments to the next vehicle.

The fundraising timeline between funds has historically been roughly three to five years, with meaningful overlap between investment periods: HealthCap VIII (2019 vintage) was still making investments into 2024 — SynOx Therapeutics and Adcendo in late 2024 were HealthCap VIII positions — while HealthCap IX was already accepting LP capital. This overlap is deliberate and allows the firm to maintain deal momentum without forcing premature portfolio construction decisions within the older fund solely to deploy remaining capital before a hard deadline.

Management fees from committed capital form the operational revenue base that funds the firm's approximately 28-person team, two offices, and deal origination infrastructure. Standard European life sciences VC management fees typically run at 2% per annum on committed capital during the investment period, stepping down to 1.5–1.75% on net invested capital thereafter. At the fund sizes HealthCap has historically operated — approximately €200–300 million per fund — this generates roughly €4–6 million per year in management fee revenue, sufficient to sustain a lean senior-partner-driven firm with active deal origination but not one that could support an outsized headcount.

Carried interest — the GP's share of profits above the hurdle rate, conventionally 20% for European life sciences VC with an 8% preferred return — is the primary source of partner compensation. For HealthCap, this means that the Actelion, Algeta, and Fusion Pharmaceuticals exits were the economically defining events for the partners who managed those fund cycles. The Swedish Tax Agency has in recent years taken an aggressive position on carried interest treatment, asserting it should be taxed as employment income rather than capital gains — a structural headwind for Swedish-domiciled GP entities that has affected multiple Swedish fund managers and may have accelerated HealthCap's use of non-Swedish fund structures for newer vehicles.

LP Base: Confirmed and Probable

HealthCap's LP base spans five distinct institutional categories, each with different investment motivations and time horizons.

The following table summarizes the publicly confirmed LP categories across HealthCap's fund history, drawn from the firm's own public materials, Wikipedia, and PitchBook data:

LP Category Confirmed LPs Fund Generation
Nordic development/strategic Novo Holdings, EIFO HealthCap IX (confirmed); prior funds (Novo Holdings)
Swedish national pension AP4 (4th), AP6 (6th) Multiple funds (confirmed)
Scandinavian insurance/pension Skandia Life Insurance; Elo Mutual (Finland) Multiple funds; HealthCap VIII (confirmed)
US endowments and foundations Mayo Clinic, Northwestern, U. Michigan, Vanderbilt, Washington U., Kresge Foundation Multiple funds (confirmed)
EU supranational European Investment Fund Multiple funds (confirmed)

No comprehensive LP list for HealthCap IX has been publicly disclosed. The fund is understood to remain in active fundraising as of March 2026, with the disclosed Novo Holdings/EIFO €48 million commitment from April 2025 representing the most recent public data point. Total fund size for HealthCap IX has not been formally announced; based on the trajectory of prior funds and the €1.2 billion total cumulative committed capital figure cited by the firm, a target in the €250–350 million range is consistent with historical fund sizing, though this cannot be confirmed from public sources.

The Strategic Logic of the LP Mix

The combination of Nordic institutional capital (AP4, AP6, Skandia, Novo Holdings, EIFO) and US university endowments (Mayo, Northwestern, Michigan, Vanderbilt, Washington) serves distinct purposes. Nordic LPs provide geographical loyalty, brand recognition in the firm's home market, and a shared understanding of the Nordic biotech ecosystem that facilitates deal origination from academic spinouts and public statements of support. US endowments provide access to a different co-investor network, signal credibility to US-based biotech executives being recruited to portfolio companies, and diversify the LP base beyond the Nordic region's relatively concentrated institutional investor community.

The EIFO investment in HealthCap IX illustrates how LP recruitment and strategic positioning are inseparable for a firm of HealthCap's size. The €48 million commitment came with an explicit geographic condition — HealthCap's commitment to establish a Copenhagen presence at BII — meaning the LP relationship simultaneously expands the fund's capital base and its deal origination footprint. This kind of LP-as-strategic-partner dynamic, where institutional investors in a region use LP commitments to anchor VC firms locally, is increasingly common in European biotech and reflects a recognition that access to early-stage deal flow is a function of physical presence and institutional relationships, not just financial analysis.


Leadership Team

Björn Odlander — Founder and Managing Partner, MD PhD. The founder and intellectual anchor of HealthCap. Previously head of healthcare equity research at ABB Aros Securities, voted best pharmaceutical analyst in Sweden four consecutive years (1993–1996). His PhD in the biochemistry of inflammation at Karolinska Institutet gives him direct scientific credibility in the therapeutic areas the firm targets.

Mårten Steen — Managing Partner, MD PhD. Re-joined HealthCap as partner in 2010 after serving as a Director in global business development at Merck Serono. His PhD, earned at Lund University and Novo Nordisk, is in clinical chemistry and coagulation. He leads the firm's public LP relationships, including serving as spokesperson for the Novo Holdings/EIFO announcement.

The broader team of approximately 28 people — eleven partners, three venture partners, three associates, and support functions — is notably stable, with multiple partners having been with the firm for fifteen to twenty-five years.


HealthCap IX Strengths and Competitive Advantages (Blue Team Assessment)

1. Nearly Thirty Years of Continuous Operating History in European Life Sciences. HealthCap has navigated every European biotech funding cycle since 1996 — the dot-com boom and bust, the post-2008 credit contraction, the COVID-era stimulus, and the 2022–2024 biotech drawdown — and continued to deploy capital and produce exits throughout. This institutional continuity is genuinely rare among European life sciences venture firms, most of which either collapsed, merged, or significantly restructured over the same period. The LP base, which includes US university endowments and European national pension funds with long investment horizons, reflects trust in the franchise built over decades.

2. Demonstrated Multi-Billion Exit Track Record. Actelion ($30 billion to J&J), Algeta ($2.9 billion to Bayer), and Fusion Pharmaceuticals ($2.4 billion to AstraZeneca) represent three exits each exceeding $2 billion — an extraordinarily concentrated demonstration of enterprise value creation for a European mid-sized VC. All three followed the same pattern: identify novel therapeutic mechanism in an underserved disease area, build from early stage through IPO or late-stage private, and exit to a large pharmaceutical company seeking validated external innovation. HealthCap IX is replicating this exact playbook with Precirix and Ariceum in radiopharmaceuticals.

3. Radiopharmaceutical Expertise Is Structurally Advantaged. The firm's three-fund arc in targeted radiopharmaceuticals — Algeta, Fusion, now Precirix and Ariceum — has produced proprietary knowledge about regulatory strategy, manufacturing scale-up, clinical trial design, and acquirer relationships that no other European VC firm of comparable size can fully replicate. Radiopharmaceuticals have moved from niche oncology interest to a core Big Pharma acquisition priority (Bayer, Novartis, AstraZeneca, Eli Lilly have all made large commitments), making this track record commercially timely.

4. ADC Positioning Aligns with the Most Active Oncology Modality. Antibody-drug conjugates have seen the most consistent large clinical and commercial validation in oncology over the past five years. By co-leading the $135 million Adcendo Series B and participating in the $92 million Kivu Series A, HealthCap IX has secured early positions in two European/transatlantic ADC companies with differentiated biology — uPARAP targeting (Adcendo) and superior linker-payload stability (Kivu) — before the modality becomes overcrowded.

5. Nordic LP Expansion Increases Geographic Deal Flow. The addition of Novo Holdings (again) and EIFO (first time) as HealthCap IX LPs, combined with a Copenhagen presence at BII, is both a fundraising success and a deal sourcing investment. Denmark has produced significant early-stage biotech — Hemab, Adcendo, and Lica have all come from Danish academic settings — and HealthCap's institutional presence there should increase its access to the next generation of Copenhagen University and DTU spinouts.

6. Active Company Creation Adds Deal Flow Independence. Unlike funds that rely entirely on external deal flow, HealthCap co-founds companies — Tribune Therapeutics and Mahzi Therapeutics are current examples — which gives it first access to founding equity, founder selection, and IP structure before any competitive process. This capability is modest compared to a dedicated venture creation firm, but it meaningfully supplements the external pipeline.


HealthCap IX Risks, Challenges, and Vulnerabilities (Red Team Assessment)

1. Fund Size Constraints Relative to Late-Stage Capital Requirements. With a disclosed history of funds in the €200–300 million range and total committed capital across all nine funds of approximately €1.2 billion, HealthCap is a relatively small investor by global life sciences standards. This creates structural tension: the firm's most successful exits have been companies that required substantial capital through Phase 3 and commercialization, but HealthCap's fund economics require early-stage entry and partnership with larger US investors for later tranches. If the ADC or radiopharmaceutical companies require more capital than expected — as oncology clinical development routinely does — HealthCap's pro-rata ability to maintain meaningful ownership through late rounds may be limited without continued successful fundraising.

2. European Biotech Funding Environment Remains Difficult. The 2022–2024 biotech drawdown hit European venture harder than US venture, with fewer large crossover funds, thinner IPO windows, and more restricted capital for Series B and C rounds. While the European investment environment has stabilized in 2025, it has not fully recovered to 2021 conditions. Several HealthCap portfolio companies — Oncopeptides (ongoing rights issue, February 2026), Vicore (presenting at investor conferences, limited commercial progress) — reflect the challenges facing listed European biotech companies in attracting sustained institutional interest.

3. Concentrated Modality Bets Carry Binary Risk. The ADC and radiopharmaceutical concentration within HealthCap IX is a double-edged sword. If the radiopharmaceutical and ADC sectors continue to attract large pharma acquirers and produce clinical successes, the portfolio is well positioned. If a series of clinical failures in either modality dampens acquirer enthusiasm — as has happened to other precision oncology modalities — multiple portfolio positions could be affected simultaneously. The firm's historical portfolio shows this is not a hypothetical: multiple companies across the portfolio have experienced clinical failures and limited liquidity.

4. Key Person Dependency on Founding Partnership. Björn Odlander and the senior partners who joined in the late 1990s and early 2000s represent the accumulated institutional knowledge, LP relationships, and deal origination network that define HealthCap's franchise. While the recent addition of Daniel Karsberg (2025) and Max Odlander (2022) suggests active succession planning, the depth of continuity below the founding generation has not been tested by a generational transition. Several comparable European life sciences VCs have struggled to maintain performance after founder transitions.

5. Listed Portfolio Companies Face Structural Challenges. Oncopeptides and Vicore, HealthCap's two actively listed Stockholm positions as of March 2026, are each navigating difficult clinical and commercial conditions. Oncopeptides' Pepaxti received both EMA and MHRA approval but has struggled commercially in the competitive multiple myeloma space, with a rights issue ongoing in February 2026. Vicore's VP01 for IPF and digital therapy Almee are advancing but remain pre-commercial. These positions create mark-to-market pressure and potential management distraction without producing near-term cash distributions.

6. No Publicly Disclosed Fund-Level Return Metrics. HealthCap does not disclose fund-level IRRs, DPIs, or TVPIs. The firm's performance narrative is built around individual company exits and a count of approved pharmaceutical products. While the Actelion, Algeta, and Fusion exits are unambiguously strong, the return profile of the intermediate funds — particularly those with exposure to the more challenging 2015–2020 European biotech environment — cannot be independently assessed. LPs with access to fund reporting have visibility; external observers do not.


Recent Developments (2024–2026)

HealthCap's most active recent period has been defined by large new investments in ADC companies, continued radiopharmaceutical portfolio development, a Nordic geographic expansion, and several portfolio company milestones.

In October 2024, HealthCap participated in Kivu Bioscience's $92 million Series A — the company's first external financing — led by Novo Holdings, with Gimv and Red Tree also participating. Kivu's differentiated ADC platform (stable linker-payload technology addressing off-target toxicity) is expected to enter Phase 1 for its lead PTK7-targeting ADC in 2025, with a first patient dosed confirmed on HealthCap's website as of early March 2026.

In October 2024, SynOx Therapeutics closed an €84.8 million Series B, bringing total funding to nearly €85 million for the emactuzumab anti-CSF1R antibody program in tenosynovial giant cell tumor — a rare and disabling joint condition with limited surgical options.

In November 2024, Adcendo closed a $135 million Series B led by HealthCap alongside Venrock, TPG, and Ysios Capital, providing runway to advance its uPARAP-targeting ADC pipeline toward clinical trials in soft-tissue sarcoma and triple-negative breast cancer.

In March 2025, Tribune Therapeutics — co-founded by HealthCap — closed €37 million in combined Seed and Series A financing, with Novo Holdings, LifeArc Ventures, and Inven2 participating alongside HealthCap. Georg Vo Beiske, a HealthCap Venture Partner who had previously worked on Xofigo's development at Bayer, serves as CEO.

In April 2025, Novo Holdings and EIFO jointly invested €48 million in HealthCap IX, with the fund committing to establish a presence at Copenhagen's BioInnovation Institute.

In October 2025, HealthCap made its most recent disclosed investment in Hemab Therapeutics, a Danish biotech developing bi-specific antibodies for Glanzmann's thrombasthenia and other rare coagulation disorders.

HealthCap also joined the European Life Sciences Coalition in early 2026, a newly formed industry group seeking to strengthen the European life sciences investment ecosystem — a positioning consistent with the firm's role as an institutional voice for European biotech.


Conclusion

HealthCap IX represents the ninth iteration of the most durable and consistently performing European life sciences venture franchise to emerge from the Nordic region. Over nearly three decades, the firm has demonstrated that a focused, scientifically credible team can identify early-stage companies in rare diseases and oncology, build them through IPO or late-stage private rounds, and deliver exits to large pharmaceutical companies at premium valuations. The Actelion, Algeta, and Fusion Pharmaceuticals exits — each exceeding $2 billion — form a track record that few European-origin life sciences VCs can match in absolute terms.

HealthCap IX is deliberately continuing the radiopharmaceutical thread that defined two prior fund cycles, with Precirix and Ariceum representing the next generation of nanobody- and peptide-based radioligand therapeutics. Simultaneously, the fund has made concentrated early bets in ADCs — Adcendo and Kivu — in a modality that has received the most sustained large pharma validation in oncology over the past five years. The Nordic geographic expansion into Copenhagen adds deal flow infrastructure in the region most likely to produce the next generation of academic spinouts.

The open questions are primarily structural. HealthCap IX operates with a fund size that requires careful capital rationing as portfolio companies progress through expensive clinical development. The European biotech funding environment, while recovering, remains thinner than US comparables. And the firm has not yet publicly tested whether its institutional franchise — currently anchored in a founding partnership with deep continuity — can successfully transition to the next generation of partners without affecting LP confidence or deal origination quality. For institutions already invested in European life sciences venture who want exposure to one of the continent's oldest and most consistently active franchises, HealthCap IX presents a known quantity. For those new to the firm, the absence of public fund-level performance data means the Actelion-Algeta-Fusion exit narrative must stand in for the full picture — which it does compellingly, but incompletely.


All information in this article was accurate as of the research date and is derived from publicly available sources including company press releases, regulatory announcements, financial news reporting, and company websites. Information may have changed since publication. This content is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment, legal, or financial advice. The author is not a lawyer or financial adviser.