Vivo Capital Research
Investment Thesis
Vivo Capital is a global healthcare-specialist investment firm founded in 1996 (originally as the BDF Fund) and headquartered in Palo Alto, California, with additional offices in China (opened 2007) and Singapore (opened 2023). The firm describes its approach as an "Ecosystem Strategy": rather than investing in isolated deals, Vivo leverages a network of 460+ portfolio companies, operating executives, and industry partners to originate proprietary opportunities and broker cross-portfolio collaboration across the healthcare value chain. Vivo is one of the largest and longest-running dedicated healthcare investment platforms in the world, with 30+ years of history, 120+ IPOs and M&A exits, and $6.1B in active AUM as of Q4 2025 per the firm's own site (external trackers place AUM in the $5.3B-$6.1B range through 2025-2026).
Stage Focus
Vivo runs a multi-strategy platform spanning three coordinated fund families rather than a single early-stage vehicle:
- Vivo Innovation Fund (venture capital) - invests in venture-stage companies developing novel healthcare technologies or products.
- Vivo Capital private equity funds - growth capital to accelerate commercial-stage companies plus control buyouts (LBOs, management buyouts, restructurings). The July 2026 acquisition of Dutscher Group was the firm's first European buyout.
- Vivo Opportunity Fund (public equity) - invests in global public equities of small- and mid-cap biotech, pharma, healthcare, and life sciences companies; closed its most recent public fund with commitments over $740M in May 2025.
This makes Vivo a genuinely multi-stage healthcare investor: it participates in venture rounds (Series B/C), leads or co-leads pre-IPO growth rounds, executes control buyouts, and holds public-market positions post-IPO.
Check Size
The firm does not publish a formal check-size range. Observed deal sizes suggest wide flexibility: participation in syndicated rounds from roughly $5M-$20M up to leading or co-leading financings of $100M-$150M+ (e.g., $103M Kinaset Series B, $110M Oricell pre-IPO round, $150M Full-Life Technologies financing), plus outright buyouts (Dutscher Group, undisclosed size).
Lead Tendency
Mixed - Vivo both leads and follows depending on the situation. It led the Full-Life Technologies $150M financing, co-led Oricell's $110M pre-IPO round, and acted as sole acquirer in the Dutscher Group buyout, while participating as one of several syndicate members in rounds like Kinaset's $103M Series B (led by RA Capital and Forge Life Science Partners).
Recent Activity
Vivo has been highly active through 2026: a $103M Kinaset Therapeutics Series B (January 2026), the Dutscher Group buyout (announced February 2026, first European buyout), a $110M Oricell Therapeutics pre-IPO round co-lead (April 2026), and a $150M lead financing for Full-Life Technologies (May 2026). The firm also saw multiple portfolio exits in early-to-mid 2026: Ajax Therapeutics acquired by Eli Lilly (~$2.3B, April 2026), Soleno Therapeutics acquired by Neurocrine Biosciences (~$2.9B, April 2026), Terns Pharmaceuticals acquired by Merck (~$6.7B, March 2026), and Scientia Vascular acquired by Medtronic (~$550M, March 2026). The firm marked its 30th anniversary in 2026 with a philanthropic initiative and a public letter from its co-founders.
Portfolio Highlights
Vivo's public portfolio page lists 94 companies invested in since 2014 (private and public-via-private-placement). Notable names include Zai Lab, Silence Therapeutics, Ascendis Pharma, Verona Pharma, Tarsus Pharmaceuticals, Precision BioSciences, Compass Pathways, RemeGen, Sinovac Biotech, and WuXi PharmaTech, alongside a deep bench of clinical-stage biotech, medtech (Scientia Vascular, Magnolia Medical Technologies, Neocis, Ronovo Surgical), and life-sciences services businesses (Caidya, Dominique Dutscher, Esco Aster). Recent notable exits include Ajax Therapeutics (Lilly), Soleno Therapeutics (Neurocrine), Terns Pharmaceuticals (Merck), and Scientia Vascular (Medtronic).
Team
Vivo is run by a five-person Managing Partner group with deep scientific and financial pedigree:
- Frank Kung, Ph.D., M.B.A. - Managing Partner; co-founded Cetus Immune and Genelabs Technologies; Ph.D. Molecular Biology and M.B.A. from UC Berkeley.
- Edgar G. Engleman, M.D. - Managing Partner, Chief Scientific Advisor; Stanford professor of Pathology & Medicine, lead inventor of Provenge, co-founder of Dendreon and Bolt Biotherapeutics.
- Shan Fu, M.A. - Managing Partner; former Senior Managing Director at Blackstone; chairs multiple portfolio company boards including TOT Biopharm and Sinovac Biotech.
- Gaurav Aggarwal, M.D. - Managing Partner; 20+ years life sciences investing; sits on the boards of Unicycive Therapeutics and Geron.
- Michael Chang, M.B.A. - Managing Partner; former healthcare strategy leader at Johnson & Johnson; Harvard Business School M.B.A.
Below the Managing Partners sits a ~30-person investment team (Partners, Principals, Executive Directors) with MD/PhD and banking/consulting backgrounds, plus a dedicated operations bench led by Cinthia Sheu (COO) and Zhanping Wu (General Counsel/CCO).
Decision Process
Partnership-style decision-making across five Managing Partners rather than a solo GP or formal investment committee disclosed publicly. Investment professionals frequently take board seats or board-observer roles at portfolio companies (e.g., Sean Zhang on Rgenta's board and Zenas Biopharma as observer; Gaurav Aggarwal on Unicycive and Geron boards).
Founder Preferences
Vivo backs scientifically differentiated healthcare companies - biopharma, medtech, and life-sciences services - typically led by technical/clinical founders, and is comfortable engaging pre-commercial as well as growth/public-stage companies given its ecosystem approach spans venture, PE, and public markets.
Geographic Focus
Global healthcare investor with primary hubs in the US (Palo Alto HQ), Greater China (Beijing/Shanghai presence since 2007), and Singapore/Southeast Asia (since 2023); the 2026 Dutscher Group acquisition marked its first direct buyout in Europe.