Caxton Advantage to Raise $150 Million

New York-based Caxton Advantage Life Sciences Fund plans to raise $150 million for a second fund later this year, according to a Dow Jones VentureWire report. The company’s first fund, formed in 2006 by Lehman Bros. veterans Eric Roberts and A. Rachel Leheny, has invested $150 million in a collection of private and public companies that have advanced drugs into clinical trials. And the portfolio has produced some impressive successes so far. Among them: On March 21, Frazer, PA.-based Cephalon, Inc. (NASDAQ:[[ticker:CEPH]]) announced it would buy Caxton Advantage holding Gemin X Pharmaceuticals for $225 million. Gemin X is testing a number of first-in-class cancer treatments, including a drug for small-cell lung cancer. Caxton Advantage, which also has offices in San Diego, expects most of its existing limited partners to chip in for the second fund.

Author: Arlene Weintraub

Arlene is an award-winning journalist specializing in life sciences and technology. She was previously a senior health writer based out of the New York City headquarters of BusinessWeek, where she wrote hundreds of articles that explored both the science and business of health. Her freelance pieces have been published in USA Today, US News & World Report, Technology Review, and other media outlets. Arlene has won awards from the New York Press Club, the Association of Health Care Journalists, the Foundation for Biomedical Research, and the American Society of Business Publication Editors. Her book about the anti-aging industry, Selling the Fountain of Youth, was published by Basic Books in September 2010. View all posts by Arlene Weintraub