Danish life sciences investor Novo Holdings today announced that it has invested in Sound Bioventures Fund I as a cornerstone investor in the first close of é110 million.

Sound Bioventures will be investing in private biotech companies and will focus on companies with assets in clinical or late pre-clinical stages, primarily within rare diseases.

The fund will be managed by a founding team with experience in venture investing and operational drug development. The team includes Casper Breum, who has a background from Novo Nordisk, Lundbeck and Lundbeckfonden Ventures, Johan Kördel who brings experience from Pharmacia, Biovitrum and Lundbeckfonden Ventures, and Bibhash Mukhopadhyay, with a background in J&J, AstraZeneca and NEA.

"At Novo Holdings we are very excited to be one of the cornerstone investors of Sound Bioventures. In addition to making a profitable fund investment, we are looking forward to working with the experienced transatlantic team to translate more Scandinavian innovation into companies with a global footprint developing drugs that target critical unmet medical needs," said Søren Møller, managing partner of Novo Seeds, the early-stage investment arm of Novo Holdings.

Based in Scandinavia and the US, Sound Bioventures expects to invest one third of the funds in Scandinavian companies, one third in US- and UK-based companies, and one third will be invested in companies from across Europe.

"Our bridgehead in the US makes us different from many other European-based life science venture investors. Apart from giving us access to a high- quality deal flow from the US, it also positions us to bringing relevant US-based investors into our European portfolio companies," said Casper Breum, managing partner and co-founder of Sound Bioventures.

Saminvest, Vækstfonden and the European Investment Fund have also invested in the first fund of Sound Bioventures, together with other private investors.