Biotech VC Omega Funds raises $647 million fund

Allison DeAngelis is the East Coast biotech and venture capital reporter at STAT, reporting where scientific ideas and money meet. She is also co-host of the weekly biotech podcast, The Readout Loud. You can reach Allison on Signal at AllisonDeAngelis.01.

Omega Funds, the biotech VC firm founded by brash investor Otello Stampacchia, has raised nearly $650 million to invest in drug startups. 

The Boston-based firm announced Monday that it has raised $647 million for its eighth fund, exceeding its original target. The total is in line with the fund Omega raised in 2021. 

Omega now stands as one of the few biotech VC firms to raise a fresh pool of capital this year. Fundraising has plummeted over the past couple of years. Pre-pandemic, investors looking to back biotech companies would raise between 150 and 300 investment funds each year, according to data from Pitchbook. But that figure dropped to just 46 funds last year, marking a 10-year low. 

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