Omega Funds has raised $647 million for the investment shop’s latest round aimed at life sciences companies targeting unmet medical needs.
The new fund—Omega’s eighth since its creation in 2004—only narrowly missed out on reaching the $650 millon benchmark achieved by the firm’s previous round at the tail end of 2021. Still, Omega said the latest fund exceeding the $600 million target the firm set for itself thanks to “strong support from both new and existing limited partners.”
Omega, which has raised $2.5 billion to date, is sticking with its strategy of “creating and investing in innovative life sciences companies in the U.S. and Europe that target severe, unmet medical needs,” according to a July 21 release.
Omega’s track record speaks for itself, with 50 companies having been bought out and 47 having gone public themselves. Of the firm’s recent success stories, Omega name-checked the likes of PI3Kα-focused Scorpion Therapeutics, which was picked up by Eli Lilly for potentially $2.5 billion in January, and EyeBio, which was bought for $1.3 billion by Merck & Co. last year.
“As with prior funds, Fund VIII will support management teams in the U.S. and Europe through company creation, early venture rounds, and later-stage financings,” Omega Funds Managing Director Francesco Draetta said in the release.
“We believe our broad investment strategy is well-positioned for navigating this period of macro and policy uncertainty,” Draetta added. “We look forward to contributing our capital, expertise, and network connectivity in partnering with entrepreneurs, founders, co-investors, and the broader community to transform the standards of care for severe diseases.”
Omega’s announcement comes against a backdrop of falling VC funding in biotech overall. An analysis by GlobalData suggested that biopharma venture funding dropped 20% in the first quarter of 2025 compared to the same period the year before.
That wasn’t enough to stop the likes of California investment firm Vivo Capital, which secured $740 million in commitments in May to be aimed at preclinical- and clinical-stage companies.