Catalio Capital Management LP, a Baltimore biotechnology-focused investment firm that recently spun out of Camden Partners, has closed a new fund worth $100 million.
The fund was oversubscribed and closed at its cap of $100 million. Participants in the fund include undisclosed private equity and hedge fund investors, as well as institutional family offices and foundations. Cooley LLP served as counsel for this fund.
The closure of the Catalio Nexus II fund comes just over three months after managing partners George Petrocheilos and R. Jacob Vogelstein launched their venture capital firm, Catalio, as an independent entity. Previously, the funding effort operated within Baltimore's Camden Partners Holdings LLC under the name Nexus Management LP. Petrocheilos and Vogelstein set out with the goal of investing in startups working to develop and commercialize biomedical technologies. They drew the new name for their firm from the Greek word for “catalyze,” as a nod to the fund's goal of serving as a catalyst to accelerate the growth of its portfolio companies.
Vogelstein has said Catalio aims to support promising biotech companies through all stages of development, "from inception through IPO."
Petrocheilos and Vogelstein have raised nearly $150 million since the inception of their investment firm, and the Catalio Nexus II is their largest fund to date. The pair has invested in 20 growing life sciences companies, and have also opened another office in Manhattan in New York City "to facilitate the firm’s rapid growth."
Catalio's portfolio includes many notable local biotech companies, including Personal Genome Diagnostics Inc. and Thrive Earlier Detection Corp., both Johns Hopkins spinouts that are developing tools that can be used to diagnose cancer earlier, and with greater accuracy and efficiency. The firm also backs mental health care company Compass Pathways (NASDAQ: CMPS), which went public in September and is currently working with researchers at Sheppard Pratt on clinical trials to investigate the effects of psilocybin, or "magic mushrooms," on patients dealing with depression that have not responded well to other treatments.
Catalio works with a team of 28 venture partners that includes acclaimed scientists and entrepreneurs, including Nobel Prize winners like Adam Riess and renowned Johns Hopkins cancer researcher Bert Vogelstein, who is also Jacob Vogelstein's father. Petrocheilos and Vogelstein note that the vast experience and expertise of these partners gives Catalio access to "best-in-class technical due diligence" on companies developing the next generation of drugs, medical devices, diagnostics and other health technologies.
The latest addition to Catalio's venture partner team is Dr. Freda Lewis Hall, recently retired chief medical officer and executive vice president of pharmaceutical giant Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE).
“It is incredibly rewarding to be able to directly partner with the world’s most successful scientist-entrepreneurs to translate their basic research into commercial ventures that enhance the lives of millions of patients around the globe," Petrocheilos and Vogelstein said in a statement Tuesday. "We truly believe that investment in the life sciences and biotechnology sectors has never been more critical and we continue to see an incredible opportunity for growth in these businesses.”
