Healthcare investment specialist BioScience Managers has appointed Elizabeth Klein as an Investment Consultant, to facilitate company's UK investment deal flow, in particular to support its collaboration entered in December 2016 with London-based investment firm Downing LLP.
According to the compabny, Ms Klein's primary focus will be on sourcing and reviewing investment opportunities for BioScience Managers’ and the Downing FOUR Healthcare Share Class Venture Capital Trust (VCT) plc (Downing FOUR Healthcare).
BioScience Managers is a life sciences investment firm established in 2000.
Downing FOUR Healthcare is targeting £10 million for its allocation and anticipates investing between £0.5 million to £1 million per company, alone or as part of a syndicate.
"The focus is on organisations with clear technological and market advantages and near to mid-term commercialisation potential, across a wide spectrum of areas including therapeutics, medical devices, diagnostics and digital health," said the company in a statement.
Ms Klein holds a first class degree in Applied Biology with Genetics, an MA in Medicine, Science and Society, and an MBA. During her career as a UK financial analyst she has worked at Dresdner Kleinwort, RW Baird, Bridgewell, Teathers and N+1 Singer. She was the Starmine Healthcare Stockpicker of the year in 2006 and 2013. She established her own consultancy, Klein-Edmonds Associates, in 2015 through which, alongside her role for BioScience Managers, she also provides consultancy to the UK BioIndustry Association (BIA) and Radnor Capital Partners, amongst others.
Jeremy Curnock Cook, managing director of BioScience Managers, said: “We’re delighted to welcome Liz to the BioScience Managers team. She is highly regarded and well connected in the UK life sciences sector, and will provide excellent on-the-ground access to innovative investment opportunities, as we further expand our investment horizons.”
An industry veteran with over 30 years’ experience in healthcare investing, including as head of biotech investments at Rothschild for over two decades, Mr Curnock Cook established BioScience Managers in the UK in 2000, opening the Melbourne, Australia-based investment firm in 2003. It has established a track record of supporting the transformation of its investee companies and delivering impressive returns for its financial backers, with its first fund, IB Australian Bioscience Fund I, providing a net 22.5% IRR.
Ms Klein, Investment Consultant at BioScience Managers, said: “Whilst the UK is recognised globally for the strength of its science and medical innovation, it hasn’t always had access to sufficient capital and expertise to succeed commercially. That has changed and VCTs are an important and tax-efficient part of the UK investment capital ecosystem. Given the backdrop of an ageing population and increasing global expenditure on healthcare, there are opportunities to find and fund innovative companies with the potential to deliver better healthcare for patients, improved efficiency for payors and attractive returns to investors.”