New Rhein Healthcare announces first closing of its inaugural fund

New Rhein fund closed on $47.7 million of commitments with an additional $15 million commitment to be automatically released upon achieving a targeted final closing of $100 million.

PHILADELPHIA: New Rhein Healthcare Investors, an international private equity firm focused on healthcare therapeutics and medical devices, recently announced the first closing of its inaugural pooled fund. The fund closed on $47.7 million of commitments with an additional $15 million commitment to be automatically released upon achieving a targeted final closing of $100 million.

The fund is led by a strong management team, including Mr Subhanu Saxena, former CEO of Cipla Pharmaceuticals and former Head of Global Product Strategy & Commercialization of Novartis Pharmaceuticals; Dr. Ivan Gergel, former Head of Development and Chief Medical Officer at Nektar Therapeutics, former Chief Scientific Officer at Endo Pharmaceuticals and former Head of R&D at Forest Labs; and Dr. Greg Parekh, founder of New Rhein and former Head of Global M&A of Novartis.

"We are fortunate to have assembled a world-class, experienced management team and a solid LP base who are themselves well-connected industry insiders. Our strategy to make concentrated investments in a few companies affords us the luxury to be highly selective and focused in our investments and provide unprecedented support to our portfolio companies to help them avoid mistakes, drive growth and achieve larger exits more quickly," said Greg Parekh, New Rhein's founder. "I'd like to thank our LPs for the support they give which extends far beyond their financial commitment."

New Rhein invests venture and growth equity capital in businesses that utilize proven products in new applications; specifically, clinically de-risked assets using existing molecules with newly discovered uses and purposes. In an era of increasing costs, New Rhein believes that "innovation drives greater risk-adjusted value than invention" and that major unmet medical needs can be addressed by existing solutions, improving health economic outcomes while doing so.

New Rhein seeks to invest in companies that meet five key criteria: (1) the company's product addresses a major unmet medical need, using (2) a proven business / scientific concept, via (3) a clear clinical and regulatory plan to deliver (4) demonstrated health economic value, protected by (5) strong IP or market exclusivity.

The firm seeks to invest $10-30 million in equity per portfolio company over the life of an investment. It targets making five to seven investments over the next three to four years. This selective and focused approach arises from a management team of "industry insiders" and engaged investors, who have strong knowledge of what it takes to get products approved, reimbursed and adopted and what potential acquirers look for in M&A targets.

Earlier this month, New Rhein announced the opening of its global headquarters in Philadelphia, complementing its other offices in London and Brussels. The firm hopes to continue its investment activities at the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference in January 2019.