BioCentury
ARTICLE | Finance

Novartis Venture Fund’s move to earlier, riskier bets starting to pay off

NVF’s 2020 liquidity events could be a sign that its strategic shift and new team are moving in the right direction

October 17, 2020 1:45 AM UTC

Over the last three and a half years, Novartis Venture Fund has remade its team and narrowed its remit to early-stage opportunities in therapeutics. The fund’s 2020 exits suggest the strategic shift may have been in the right direction, and could bode well for other corporate VCs making similar moves. 

Anja König accelerated the NVF transition after signing on as global head of the Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS; SIX:NOVN) fund in 2017. ...