OrbiMed raises $551m for China and India healthcare

OrbiMed Advisors, a New York-based healthcare-focused private equity firm, has held the final close on its third Asian vehicle above target.

The firm has raised $551 million for OrbiMed Asia Partners III, according to a statement. The fund, which launched last year with a $450 million target, had raised $431.5 million in June, according to a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

Fund III follows the same strategy as its predecessor, the 2013-vintage $325 million OrbiMed Asia Partners II, and will invest broadly across the Asian healthcare industry with a focus on growth stage product and services-oriented companies in China and India.

Limited partners in OrbiMed’s previous Asia funds include Asian Development Bank, HarbourVest Horizon and Bank of America Merrill Lynch, according to PEI data. ADB committed $60 million to Fund II, according to a statement.

The firm expects to deploy Fund III across 15 to 20 companies with transaction sizes ranging between $10 million to $75 million, according to a statement. OrbiMed said it may also use capital from its latest vehicle for co-investments with OrbiMed’s global team.

“This new, larger fund reflects our enthusiasm for the investment opportunities in China and India, which have healthcare market growth rates far superior to most developed countries,” Carter Neild, general partner at OrbiMed, said in the statement.

China and India have been the firm’s target markets in Asia since it began raising capital in 2008. China’s healthcare market has grown rapidly and has become increasingly integrated with the rest of the world, especially the US, said Jonathan Wang, senior managing director.

India on the other hand spends less than 5 percent of its GDP on healthcare, where opportunities for investment can be found across healthcare services, pharmaceuticals and diagnostics.

OrbiMed has invested more than $2 billion in Asian healthcare companies including in Chinese eye hospital chain Aige and Indian online pharmacy NetMeds.com.

The firm has more than $14 billion in assets under management. It has offices in New York, San Francisco, Shanghai, Mumbai and Herzliya, Israel.