Antoine Papiernik tells Le Figaro that Apollo deal will help Sofinnova finance the next generation of game-changing health care start-ups

On Monday, May 16, Sofinnova Partners and Apollo announced a deal under which Apollo will take a minority equity interest in Sofinnova and commit up to €1 billion of managed capital to its investment funds. This strategic partnership is poised to significantly accelerate Sofinnova’s growth. For Apollo, the investment will increase its presence in life sciences and contribute to its growth ecosystem of partners that bring specialized knowledge and networks to its integrated platform.

Le Figaro, one of France's leading daily papers, called the transaction "a great catch for Sofinnova" and pointed out that portfolio companies would benefit from greater access to financing solutions and a larger international footprint. What is more, the article by Keren Lentchner pointed out, the deal will burnish Sofinnova's image as it prepares a big recruitment drive.

"This strategic partnership will enable us to accelerate Sofinnova's growth and support the next generation of game-changing healthcare start-ups," said Antoine Papiernik, Chairman and Managing Partner of Sofinnova Partners. "In a context where innovation is moving faster and costing more, we need to be able to raise increasingly larger funds to finance companies throughout their life cycle and help them bring new drugs and therapeutic solutions to market."

The Figaro reporter Keren Lentchner concluded that while the European life sciences market has never been so dynamic, "one of the challenges is to mobilize sufficient funding to keep promising start-ups on the Old Continent and prevent them from succumbing to the siren song of Wall Street."

Read the full article in Le Figaro (subscription required)