Swiss on a roll

The Swiss biotech space hotted up last week as two of its leading funds, run by HBM Partners, picked up more than $200 million in a couple of trade sale exits, while Evolva S.A. announced plans to raise a minimum of CHF25 million ($24 million) in a private round prior to reverse merging with Arpida Ltd.

The HBM BioVentures and BioCapital funds are poised to return a substantial amount of cash to their investors following the sale of portfolio companies EsbaTech AG and Brahms AG. According to HBM CEO Andreas Wicki, the sale of EsbaTech's ophthalmology assets to Alcon Inc. provides the Swiss antibody company's investors a 1.6X return up front and the potential of a further 4.5X if milestones are achieved...