Although investing in drug development would seem to be ideal for EIS investment, it has been a somewhat niche area. Sunil Shah is hoping to change that, with o2h Ventures having recently launched the UK's first Knowledge Intensive Fund focused on this area.
Sunil gives a great perspective on how investing in the industry has evolved over the last couple of decades, and how these changes work in the favour of early-stage investors. We also talk about the challenges of investing in this area, where specialist knowledge is needed and how the growth in private capital has affected the industry.
Any discussion in this area can’t ignore COVID and we also talk about how the industry has been rising to the challenge.
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Read Hardman & Co’s latest investment research on o2h Ventures funds here.
Visit the o2h Ventures website here.
Visit the o2h Chai Time webinars here.
Visit the UK BioIndustry Association guide to investing in the UK biotech sector here.
Sunil Shah co-founded o2h Ventures with Prashant Shah in 2013. In the last few years, they have co-founded four companies with UK-based academics and entrepreneurs, provided consultancy services to five companies, held Chairman or Director level positions in nine companies, built up a portfolio of twenty early-stage investments, and executed early-stage drug discovery research projects for fifteen different companies. In 2013, bucking a pattern of UK Science going to the USA for funding, Sunil and Prashant acted quickly to lead an academic spin-out from the USA with promising data in brain cancer and proceeded to run, externally fund and locate that company, Opal Oncology, in the UK. It provided direct hands-on experience of making the scientific decisions and managing the operations of a therapeutics company.
Disclaimer
Please note this podcast/interview does not constitute a financial promotion and is provided for informational purposes and should not be construed as an invitation or offer to buy or sell any investments. Please be aware that investments into unquoted companies are high risk, long term and illiquid investments. Your capital is at risk. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance. Target returns are not guaranteed and forward looking statements are illustrative only and must not be relied upon. Investors should only invest on the basis of reading the full offer documentation. Listeners must make their own independent decisions and obtain their own independent advice regarding any information, projects, securities, tax treatment or financial instruments mentioned herein.
