MPM Capital (FKA: MPM Asset Management LLC)

MPM Capital (FKA: MPM Asset Management LLC)

Founded: 1997
Number of deals: 23
Number of companies: 15

Scoop: Founded in 1997, MPM is active in the United States, Europe and Asia. The firm has over $2 billion in capital, which it splits 80-20 between investments in the drug industry and medical device ventures. According to Managing Director Luke Evnin the company invests at all stages of development, and has even invested resources and time into starting companies from the ground up. Right now, the firm is "highly focused" on neurology and neurodegenerative diseases, such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's. Fund managers are also interested in epogenetics, oncology and stem cell advances.

Over the last few years, venture capital firms have been migrating towards a customer-focused development strategy and MPM is no exception. For Evnin, the IPO market is no longer a viable exit. MPM now invests with an eye on what will attract pharmaceutical companies. "When we approach an investment, we really think about who's the buyer and what will we have to show that buyer? Is this a team and a product portfolio that will get us there?" asks Evnin. "Then the flip side of it is we spend a lot of time with the pharmaceutical companies in this space, from Pfizer on down to the smaller companies such as an Ipsen or Purdue or Celgene. What do they want? What does their pipeline look like? When do they need it?"

So what makes MPM different from other venture capital firms out there? Experience, says Evnin. Half of the company's 20 directors have worked in the life sciences industry. "Our primary point of differentiation is that we have a better idea of what kind of company we're trying to build and the endpoint we need to hit." And MPM shares that know-how with its companies by giving its directors interoperating roles in these promising ventures. A strategy that helps "bridge our companies through critical periods in [their] evolution," Evnin explains. "We are deeply invested in the team more so than other companies."

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