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French venture firm CDC Ixis Innovation builds its life sciences team

French venture firm CDC Ixis Innovation has hired two specialists to expand its life sciences investment team. Herve de Kergrohen and Gilles des Gachons, both medical doctors, both have extensive experience in the biotech sector, one of the most active areas of the venture industry at the moment.

De Kergrohen joins from Global Biomedical Partners, a biotech investment firm, where he was a managing partner, according to Financial News. Des Gachons joins from consultancy AT Kearney but formerly worked at pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson and biotech firm SangSat Medical.

CDC Ixis Innovation, part of French investment bank CDC Ixis, is currently raising its third fund. It had a first close late last year on E102m and is targeting E150m. Its focus will be on seed and early-stage investments in biotech and life sciences, information technology, and other innovative technologies.

There has been a rush of new venture capital entrants into the biotech sector over the past two years, reflecting a confidence that the fundamentals of the industry will produce strong returns to early stage investors over the medium term.

A recent piece of research published by AltAssets - Delivering on Discovery: Private Equity Investment in Biotechnology - identified almost 300 significant venture capital investors in the sector globally and predicted the number would rise to at least 350 over the next 12 months.

Biotech has significantly increased it share of total venture investment over the past eighteen months, a trend that is expected to continue over the next few years.

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