As one of the largest and longest-tenured health care investors in the world, we offer both capital and strategic guidance to bring breakthrough biotechnology to the world. Our biotech venture capital experts, with deep scientific backgrounds, partner with remarkable biotech companies that are leading the way with innovations and aiming to raise the bar on standard of care.
Rayzebio: case study
RayzeBio is a biotechnology company focused on developing targeted radiopharmaceutical drugs for solid tumors in cancers. The team prosecutes diverse sets of binders against clinically validated cancer targets through an iterative process involving in-vitro screening, X-ray crystallography, linker and radiolabeling optimization, and in-vivo screening with molecular imaging and biodistribution analysis.
Our Private biotech investments
Explore the private biotech companies we’ve partnered with that are focused on developing treatments that improve the standard of care of medicine.
Acrivon Therapeutics
Acrivon Therapeutics Inc is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing oncology medicines that the Company matches to patients whose tumors are predicted to be sensitive to each specific medicine by utilizing its proteomics-based patient responder identification platform.
Affinavix
Affinivax was aqcuired by GSK in August 2022. Pioneering the development of a novel class of vaccines, the most advanced of which are next-generation pneumococcal vaccines.
Aligos Therapeutics
Developing targeted therapies for NASH and Viral Diseases to address important unmet medical needs.
Alkeus Pharmaceuticals
Founded in 2021 and headquartered in Cambridge, MA, Alkeus Pharmaceuticals is a clinical stage, single asset company developing ALK-001 for the treatment of Stargardt’s disease.
Apogee Therapeutics
Founded in 2022 and headquartered in Philadelphia, PA, Apogee Therapeutics is a biotechnology company focused on engineering therapies for atopic dermatitis (AD), by developing best-in-class longer half-life antibodies against clinically de-risked targets.
Artiva
Advancing a pipeline of off-the-shelf, allogeneic natural killer (NK) cell therapies for the treatment of hematologic malignancies or solid tumors.
Asher Biotherapeutics
Asher Bio is a biotechnology company developing precisely targeted immunotherapies for cancer and other diseases.
Atsena Therapeutics
Atsena Therapeutics is a clinical-stage gene therapy company focused on bringing the life-changing power of genetic medicine to reverse or prevent blindness.
Avalyn Pharma
Avalyn is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company that develops inhaled therapies for rare respiratory diseases. Avalyn's therapies treat conditions like Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF) and other Interstitial Lung Diseases (ILD).
Black Diamond Therapeutics
Pioneering the development of novel master key therapies for patients with genetically defined cancers.
BlueJay Therapeutics
BlueJay Therapeutics is discovering life-changing medicines and cures for people with viral and liver diseases, starting with chronic hepatitis B (CHB) and chronic hepatitis D (CHD).
Boundless Bio
Biopharma company interrogating extrachromosomal DNA (ecDNA) biology to deliver transformative therapies to patients with oncogene amplified cancers.
BridgeBio Oncology Therapeutics
BridgeBio Oncology Therapeutics (Formally known as: TheRas) is a clinical stage company pursuing a clinical development strategy developing small molecule inhibitors for solid tumor indications.
Cargo Therapeutics
Founded in 2021 and headquartered in San Mateo, CA, Cargo Therapeutics is a clinical stage cell therapy company developing an autologous CD22 targeted CAR-T product for large B cell lymphomas.
Centessa Pharmaceuticals
Centessa Pharmaceuticals is a clinical-stage pharmaceutical company with a Research & Development innovation engine that aims to discover, develop and ultimately deliver impactful medicines to patients. Their programs span discovery-stage to late-stage development and cover a range of high-value indications in rare diseases and immuno-oncology.
Chroma Medicine
Pioneering a new class of single-dose genomic medicines that harness epigenetics, nature’s innate mechanism for gene regulation, to revolutionize treatment of disease.
Design Therapeutics
Design Therapeutics is pioneering novel small-molecule therapeutic candidates, called GeneTAC™ molecules (Gene Targeted Chimera), that are designed to be disease-modifying and target the underlying cause of inherited nucleotide repeat expansion diseases. Their GeneTAC™ molecules are designed to selectively bind to genetic repeat sequences, modulate gene expression either by restoring or blocking transcription, and restore cellular health.
Dyne Therapeutics
Dyne was founded with a singular focus: to deliver life-transforming therapies for people living with serious muscle diseases. They are utilizing their proprietary FORCE™ platform to overcome limitations of muscle tissue delivery and advance modern oligonucleotide therapeutic candidates.
Edgewise Therapeutics
Edgewise Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of innovative treatments for severe, rare muscle disorders for which there is significant unmet medical need.
Entrada Therapeutics
Entrada Therapeutics is biopharmaceutical company innovating to transform the treatment of devastating diseases through intracellular therapeutics.
Escape Bio
ESCAPE Bio was a preclinical stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of therapies to treat genetically defined, neurodegenerative diseases.
Fore US Bio Inc
Forescout Technologies, Inc., a global cybersecurity leader, continuously identifies, protects and helps ensure the compliance of all managed and unmanaged cyber assets – IT, IoT, IoMT and OT. The Forescout Platform delivers comprehensive capabilities for network security, risk and exposure management, and extended detection and response. With seamless context sharing and workflow orchestration via ecosystem partners, it enables customers to more effectively manage cyber risk and mitigate threats.
Forma Therapeutics
Forma Therapeutics was acquired by Novo Nordisk in October 2022. The company translates unmet medical needs of people living with a serious chronic disease into innovative medicines and delivery systems, like their insulin pens. Their treatments today are benefiting millions of people living with diabetes, obesity, and rare blood and endocrine diseases.
Freeline Therapeutics
Freeline is a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing transformative adeno-associated virus (AAV)-vector-mediated systemic gene therapies. They are dedicated to improving patient lives through innovative, one-time treatments They use their proprietary, rationally designed AAV vector and capsid (AAVS3), along with novel promoters and transgenes, to deliver a functional copy of a therapeutic gene into human liver cells to express a persistent functional level of the missing or dysfunctional protein into the patient’s bloodstream. They are advancing a clinical program in Gaucher disease and early-stage efforts in various targets.
Generation Bio
Generation Bio is innovating genetic medicines to provide durable, redosable treatments for people living with rare and prevalent diseases.
Goldfinch Bio
Goldfinch was a clinical-stage biotech company focused on discovering and developing precision therapies for patients with kidney disease.
Gracell Biotechnologies
Gracell Biotechnologies is a global clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company dedicated to discovering and developing innovative and highly efficacious cell therapy. Leveraging its pioneering FasTCAR and TruUCAR technology platforms, Gracell is developing a rich clinical-stage pipeline of multiple autologous and allogeneic product candidates to overcome major industry challenges that persist with conventional CAR-T therapies.
Helicore
Helicore focuses on the discovery and development of novel and differentiated therapies for obesity.
IconOVir Bio
Iconovir is a preclinical-stage biotechnology company developing oncolytic virus therapy for the treatment of patients with cancer.
Instil Bio
Instil Bio, Inc is a global, clinical-stage cell therapy company developing tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL) for the treatment of cancer. They are building on the decades-long foundation of TIL efficacy in treating solid tumors, applying their cell therapy experience and TIL manufacturing platform to bring the promise of TIL therapy to patients in need.
Kymera Therapeutics
Kymera Therapeutics is a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company pioneering a transformative new modality, “targeted protein degradation” (TPD), with the ability to pursue targets long considered undruggable and to treat disease in entirely new ways. Their team has developed a proprietary drug discovery engine, Pegasus, to enable the design of highly selective, small molecule protein degraders with potent activity against a broad range of disease indications.
LianBio
LianBio leverages an unparalleled global innovation mining platform and a China-centric execution strategy to enable partners to access the large and dynamic healthcare landscape in China and major Asian markets while enhancing their global development initiatives.
MBX Biosciences
Founded in 2019 and headquartered in Carmel, Indiana, MBX Biosciences is a biotechnology company creating therapies for rare endocrine diseases through the discovery, development, and commercialization of transformative peptide therapeutics.
NiKang Therapeutics
NiKang Therapeutics is an early stage biotech company focused on discovering and developing innovative small molecule oncology medicines to help patients with unmet medical needs. The successful implementation of their strategy enables us to rapidly and efficiently discover and advance proprietary drug candidates with the most desirable pharmacological features into clinical studies.
Nurix Therapeutics
Nurix is committed to bringing novel, first-in-class therapies to patients without adequate treatment options. Their small molecule drugs are designed to modulate protein levels in cells as a new therapeutic approach for cancer. Through its leadership in Targeted Protein Modulation and its powerful proprietary DELigase platform, Nurix has attracted industry-leading partners including its current drug discovery collaborations with Sanofi and Gilead Sciences.
Nuvalent
Nuvalent combines deep expertise in structure-based design with clinical insights from physician-scientists to precisely inhibit clinically proven kinase targets and solve for the dual challenges of kinase resistance and selectivity.
Obsidian Therapeutics
Obsidian Therapeutics is using its proprietary cytoDRiVE® platform to harness the power of regulated therapeutic proteins to engineer precision medicine.
Olema Oncology is a biopharmaceutical company developing innovative targeted therapies for women's cancers.
PMV Pharma was founded in 2013, they have built a precision oncology platform that leverages more than four decades of research experience and unique insights into the p53 protein. Their research and development efforts are dedicated to selectively targeting mutant p53, providing unique therapies for any patient whose tumor harbors these gene mutations.
RayzeBio
RayzeBio was acquired by Bristol Myers Squibb in February 2024. Founded in 2020 and headquartered in San Diego, CA, RayzeBio is a biotechnology company focused on improving outcomes for people with cancer by harnessing the power of targeted radioisotopes to treat clinically validated solid tumor targets.
Scorpion Therapeutics
Scorpion Therapeutics was acquired by Lilly in January 2025. Developing the next generation of targeted cancer therapies. Their fully integrated discovery platform is built upon the most advanced technologies available for drug discovery, small molecule design, and target identification that they believe will enable us to rapidly create highly selective small molecule compounds against an unprecedented spectrum of targets.
Scribe Therapeutics
Scribe is molecular engineering the most advanced platform for CRISPR-based genetic medicine. Their integrated technologies, designed to be the best for therapeutic use, offer key advantages.
UpStream Bio
Founded in 2021 and headquartered in Waltham, MA, Upstream Bio is a clinical stage company whose lead program aims to develop a monoclonal antibody to inhibit the TSLP receptor in the treatment of allergic and inflammatory diseases.
VelosBio
VelosBio was acquired by Merck in November of 2020. The Company is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company committed to developing first-in-class cancer therapies targeting receptor tyrosine kinase-like orphan receptor 1 (ROR1).
Ventyx Biosciences
Ventyx is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing innovative oral medicines for patients living with autoimmune and inflammatory disorders. They believe their ability to efficiently discover and develop differentiated drug candidates will allow us to address important unmet medical needs with novel oral therapies that shift the immunology markets from injectables to oral drugs.
At Verve, they are striving to build the preeminent company developing gene editing medicines to treat atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD). Their goal is to disrupt the chronic care model for treating ASCVD by providing a new therapeutic approach with single-course gene editing medicines.
Zenas BioParma
Zenas BioPharma is a global biopharmaceutical company committed to becoming a leader in the development and commercialization of immunology based therapies for patients in need.
Wellington looks to understand the science and buys into the vision. They want to be a thought partner, not just a provider of capital.
Dr. Axel Hoos is the CEO of Scorpion Therapeutics, a biotech portfolio company that Wellington has invested in. This statement about Wellington reflects a personal opinion that may not be shared by others. There has been no compensation provided for such statements.
The Private biotech team
Meet our biotech venture capital experts with deep scientific backgrounds and an average of 15+ years of investment experience.
Insights
Read our latest research on biotech innovation, the IPO market, and other venture capital trends.
Collaboration in practice: Late-stage biotech
Nilesh Kumar, Head of Biotech Private Investing, explores how working with Wellington’s public-market biotech experts helps his team better understand the feasibility of emerging biotech innovations.
Private biotech innovation versus hype
Nilesh Kumar discusses the next generation of biotech disruptors in obesity, autoimmunity, and oncology, focusing on drugs that solve real-world unmet medical needs.
Private biotech market update: IPOs, M&A, and innovation
Our biotech venture capital experts explore the state of the private biotech market, highlighting the potential IPO-market rebound, surge in private M&A, and the focus on clinical-stage opportunities.
Private biotech investing in 2025
Nilesh Kumar, head of biotech private investing, shares his outlook for 2025, weighing headline risk against biotech venture capital's potential tailwinds.
Private biotech: Immunology and inflammation’s third wave
Our experts discuss how I&I is building on industry progress to offer new treatment solutions and interesting opportunities for private biotech investors.
Venture capital outlook for 2025: 5 key trends
Our venture capital experts are encouraged by the healthier environment for venture capital in 2025. In this year's outlook, they explore key themes for the year ahead, including: higher deployment, AI, rebounding IPOs, and impacts of the 2024 election.
Biotech IPOs in 2025: Quantity, quality, and best practices
We explore today's biotech IPO market, highlighting recent market trends, key characteristics for successful biotech IPOs, and best practices to sustain momentum as a public biotechnology company.
Innovation and M&A driving biotech recovery
We are optimistic that the biotech market will continue to recover, supported by innovation, an improving macroeconomic environment, continued M&A activity, and improved fundamentals for the sector.
URL References
Related Insights
News
Stay up to date on Wellington Private Investing news.
WSJ Pro Venture Capital: Wellington Management Raises US$476 Million for Second Biotech Venture Fund
Co-heads of biotech private investments I-hung Shih and Nilesh Kumar spoke with the Wall Street Journal to discuss the recent US$476M final close of Biomedical Innovation Fund II and how Wellington is a “one-stop shop” for the next generation of innovative biotech companies.
Source: WSJ Pro Venture Capital. Permission required for reproduction.
Wellington Management announces US$476 million final close for Biomedical Innovation II
Wellington Management names new co-heads of biotechnology team
More private investing focus areas
Venture capital
From energy transformation to sustainable cities to next-generation agriculture, we support innovative companies helping to address the impacts of climate change.
To guide late-stage private companies through the finish line and beyond, we leverage our deep industry expertise, resources, and long-term relationships across public and private markets.
Private credit
Deeper dive on biotech venture capital investing
Our team believes late-stage biotech investing is a form of venture capital focused on investing in private biotech companies that are typically within one to four years of IPO or M&A. In our view, VCs that invest in this stage have the potential to access derisked companies with substantial growth potential. Critically, we believe investors in this space need a deep understanding of the science, the macro and regulatory environment, and the quality of management teams.
Our biotech portfolio companies have access to Wellington’s broader expertise, resources, and networks. This collaboration can take many forms, such as leveraging the networks of Wellington’s public-market biotech analysts, hearing insights on the biotech regulatory environment from the firm’s macro strategists, discussing the biotech competitive landscape with investors across the globe, and much more.
In addition, portfolio companies can partner with our Value Creation Team, which tailors resources to meet companies where they are, help them reach their next stage of growth, and support their long-term success.
Our late-stage biotechnology team accesses a wide range of innovations across the biotech industry, including immunology and inflammation, radiopharmaceuticals, antibody drug conjugates, and improved versions of approved therapeutics (e.g., more convenient dosing or route of administration).
This reflects substantially all portfolio company investments made by Wellington Management’s dedicated private equity portfolios. Due to confidentiality restrictions, some company names cannot be disclosed. Additional information is available upon request. As of 31 October 2025.
