Tech billionaire Thiel raises $1B for fifth venture fund

Peter Thiel's Founders Fund has rarely invested in biotech, looking for more consumer-related plays that help people navigate a turbulent landscape for healthcare. But with a new billion-dollar fund in hand, it's quite possible that the billionaire investor who backed Facebook early on might find some other promising drug development groups to invest in. "We want to find companies across all sectors and stages that are passionate about developing technologies to address the world's most critical problems," said partner Luke Nosek in a statement. Certainly that broad definition of target companies should include a few biotech rebels. There is at least one real drug developer in the Founders Fund portfolio. The venture outfit backed Signature Therapeutics, which is developing opioid-resistant pain therapies and a novel anesthetic. Release