Early to raise

After watching big biotech and pharma companies snatch up an increasing number of preclinical or Phase I biotechs in the last three and a half years, Vivo Capital has created a vehicle to make investments far upstream of where the firm traditionally puts money to work.

The new $100 million Vivo Panda fund is sized to make early stage investments that Vivo's flagship fund is too big to accommodate. Vivo Capital Fund VIII has $750 million to invest in healthcare companies that are generating revenues or have a product in late-stage development...