Anne Horgan, Partner at Cambridge Innovation Capital, talks about what makes her tick as an investor. She will chair the discussion on Nailing the Fundraise at BioBeat25. Co-organisers, Alisa Molotova, Start-up Mentor, and Miranda Weston-Smith, BioBeat founder chat with her about her role.
Q: How did you become an investor?
Anne: I would love to answer this question by saying that this was the result of a well thought-out 10 year career plan…the reality is somewhat less straightforward!
I am a scientist by training and after a PhD in organic chemistry at the University of Bristol and a postdoc in medicinal chemistry at Yale, my first job was as a medicinal chemist, making potential medicines, for a young VC-backed start-up in Cambridge. This experience stemmed an interest in the earlier part of the innovation ecosystem and I joined Cancer Research UK’s technology transfer office, responsible for the commercialisation and translation of CRUK-financed research, which was an amazing experience.
The opportunity to join Sofinnova Partners, a well established leading Life Sciences VC firm with €4bn under management, arose unexpectedly while I had been at Cancer Research for over 5 years. Although I had not contemplated another career change at the time, I was interested in how innovation is financed so I jumped at the chance, relocated to Paris and started on the journey to become an investor.
Looking back on my journey, there is a continuous thread to my career path which has given me a 360 degree understanding of entrepreneurship - from developing products as a medicinal chemist, to protecting and commercialising IP as part of a tech transfer office, to financing and scaling start-ups in different countries as part of my roles at Sofinnova and CIC. It’s very useful to have been on both sides of the fence - in a start-up and as an investor!
Q: How are you thinking about the convergence of bio and tech?
Anne: I’m excited about the impact tech is already having on the life sciences. CIC’s investment strategy focuses on DeepTech and Life Sciences so we are constantly thinking about the convergence of bio and tech.
In fact, we have invested in a spin-out called Sortera Bio, from the Laboratory of Molecular Biology here is Cambridge, which is a game changing approach to biologics drug discovery. It uses a breakthrough technology called Deep Screening, which generates massive sequence-function datasets that power AI models, giving unmatched speed and control over the discovery process.
Thinking about the evolution of this nascent field, I believe Alphafold was the real step change. Amongst other uses, its predictions were an important factor in understanding the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2 and it is used by biotechs and academic researchers to identify drug targets for cancer, rare diseases, neurodegenerative disorders…
The AI/ML/LLM fields are becoming so powerful and evolving so fast, I think it’s only a question of time before the combination of tech and more traditional biotech enables better drugs to be found and developed faster. AI/ML are also critical in a number of enabling technologies and have the potential to be transformational; the first meaningful stage, which I would say is where we are at, is all about having access to significant quantities of good quality data to train the models and finding an application for the technology which unlocks innovation that hadn’t been possible before.
Q: What are the opportunities in this rapidly changing world?
Anne: There remains much unmet need in the Life Sciences sector so the “classical” opportunities for novel therapeutics or medical devices are here to stay for quite some time.
We are seeing more opportunities in enabling technologies, such as the ability to manipulate genes with precision through CRISPR technology or developments in synthetic biology, and I’m convinced the incredible developments in the tech sector will have a profound effect on the way we develop drugs.
Q: What is your favourite thing about being an investor?
Anne: It is the people! From academic founders to management teams, from co-investors to board members, from service providers to advisers, it is all about the people and how they can come together to create something truly impactful. The saying that it takes a village to raise a child is also true when it comes to a biotech start-up!
Being an investor is a privilege and also a huge responsibility, nurturing amazing science and looking for those therapeutics and devices that can be life changing for patients or tools and technologies that can change the way researchers carry out their work while achieving financial returns.
BioBeat25: Getting ahead of the curve in biotech
8 May, 13.30-18.00, Cambridge Union
Open to everyone, featuring all female panellists
Sign up: https://info.cic.vc/biobeat25
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