Panacea Venture, a life sciences venture fund founded by biotech veteran James Huang, MBA, in 2017, stands apart for its mission of investing in biotech companies worldwide that share a common goal of transforming lives through innovation.
Unlike many of its counterparts focused solely on drug or device development, Panacea nurtures groundbreaking companies from bench science to commercial stage, driving advancements in every aspect — from discovery to development to delivery to patients.
Panacea, a new Cure Collaboration Residency company, now has investments in more than 30 private companies and several public companies — including those focused on cell and gene therapies, small molecules, biologics, , clinical research organizations, medical devices and diagnostics — and has incubated or started about a third of them.
"Our mission is all about innovation with an emphasis toward company formation. Our newer public investing efforts help create what is essentially a barbell strategy. We invest across all subsectors of the life sciences, with most of the companies in our portfolio having a therapeutic focus," explained James Huang, MBA,Managing Partner.
Panacea has its eye on innovative ideas and companies all around the world.
"We're 'country agnostic,'" said Debra Yu, MD, Panacea’s Chief Operating Officer and Partner. "If a new technology is in Timbuktu, we'll back it and find a way to incubate the company. The incubation might occur in one region of the world, and then we'll move the company to another region when it grows up. We're very flexible and agile that way."
An Expert Team Guides Panacea Venture's Biotech Investment Strategies
Key to Panacea's strengths and skills is its leadership team, which includes 19 partners, venture partners and advisors with centuries of collective experience in investing, the regulatory arena, and emerging and established biotech companies.
The team sits in three continents and boasts skills ranging from entrepreneurial experience to industry function expertise, including clinical development, regulatory, commercial analysis and business development.
"We tag team on deals. Over the life of a deal, we may deploy different people," said Yu. "For example, we might be in a deal for three years and then need a capital market strategy or business development, so we'll pull in partners with different skill sets."
The Panacea Venture Investment Model Spans Lifecycles from Startups to Public Market
Spun out from Kleiner Perkins, a VC firm in the Silicon Valley that has existed for more than half a century, Panacea has raised three USD funds from renowned institutional funds as well as strategic investors.
Panacea invests to build and capture value from company formation to expansion to public market investing.
Incubation/company formation stage: Using a venture operator model, Panacea has built numerous companies and often uses its venture partners to run them.
Early stage: The fund employs a rigorous and iterative investment selection process to evaluate, minimize and manage risk across technology, people and valuation to drive its investment decisions, leading and co-leading early-stage deals.
Expansion stage: Panacea team members are active investors and build value. Their involvement goes beyond economic capital.
Public investing: Panacea identifies public opportunities with significant growth potential.
Pancea Venture's Take on the Benefits of Being at Cure
Panacea Venture has incubation platforms in Singapore and Shanghai and hubs in California and Boston. The company decided it wanted to have a presence in New York City and chose Cure.
"It's great to be near academic medical centers and in an area where there are other like-minded people, where there are academic symposia and neurons buzzing together," said Huang. "Cure is an incredible space. It's nice to be part of an environment where we can not only benefit from the ecosystem, but also contribute to it."
One partner and one associate are currently in Panacea's Cure space.
"We didn't just want an office building. We wanted a community," concluded Huang. "The Cure community makes everyone's world richer, and we look forward to being a part of it."