Apollo Health Ventures launches biotech fund

Investments from the USD 180 million fund will focus on companies in Europe and the USA.

The Berlin-based investment company Apollo Health Ventures has launched a new fund. With the "Health Ventures Fund II", the company aims to build up a portfolio of data-driven biotechnology and healthcare technology companies. Investments from the fund will focus on companies in Europe and the USA. The money is to be used in equal parts for the founding of new start-ups and the further development of existing companies.

The concepts of the supported companies should aim to extend the time in which people lead a healthy life. The fund is also intended to help improve people's quality of life, make them more resilient and reduce the cost of patient care. Specifically, companies that enable early intervention in age-related disease processes are to be supported. The aim is to prevent damage, maintain cellular health and fitness, reduce tissue damage and restore a healthy immune system.

"The healthcare sector is experiencing a paradigm shift from treating age-related diseases long after the first symptoms have developed to tackling the causes at earlier stages of disease pathology," says Nils Regge, co-founder and partner of Apollo Health Ventures. Apollo Health's predecessor fund was dedicated to companies developing therapeutics for age-related diseases. For example, the company Aeovian Pharmaceuticals developed a safer version of the drug "Rapamycin", which is intended to prolong health and lifespan. In addition to Regge, Dr. Jens Eckstein and, more recently, Dr. Marianne Mertens are also involved in the projects of Apollo Health Ventures.