Oaktree Capital Management closed its Life Sciences Lending Fund and its related vehicles (“the Fund”), with total capital commitments in excess of $2.3 billion. The Fund, which is Oaktree’s first dedicated life sciences fund, was oversubscribed and builds on our track record of successfully investing in this specialized field for over a decade, during which Oaktree has committed over $4.0 billion on behalf of investors globally.
Oaktree’s Life Sciences Lending Fund aims to generate attractive risk-adjusted returns by providing bespoke capital solutions to innovative companies across the life sciences sector globally, with a focus on high-growth subsectors, such as biopharma and medical devices. The Fund focuses on lending to companies with specific attributes, including those with diverse product portfolios comprised of late-stage assets targeting difficult-to-treat medical conditions, strong intellectual property and/or state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities, which, along with careful structuring, provides for adequate risk protection.
“Life sciences is a critical and economically resilient industry that is supported by secular tailwinds, including increasing healthcare spending, record pace of technological innovation, and aging populations across the developed world,” said Armen Panossian, Head of Performing Credit at Oaktree. “Additionally, while the sector has been traditionally funded largely by equity, thoughtful management teams and investors are increasingly realizing that structured debt and other alternative financing structures such as royalties can play an equally important role in enabling innovative life sciences companies to achieve their growth objectives. This creates a compelling opportunity for lenders like us with the expertise and scale to serve as a strategic partner to life sciences companies, management teams, boards and equity investors and provide these types of tailored credit solutions with speed, size, certainty, and operational flexibility.”
“We see an incredible opportunity in life sciences lending as both the pace of innovation and the need for capital increases,” said Dr. Aman Kumar, Co-Portfolio Manager of Life Sciences Lending at Oaktree. “At the same time, during a period of heightened economic and market uncertainty, the sector’s low correlation with broader credit markets is especially appealing to investors seeking consistent, differentiated, and long-dated returns. We are grateful for the support of the Fund’s global institutional investor base and having been a top-3 lender in the space globally since 2020, we look forward to building on our strong track record and reputation in life sciences lending.”
The Fund is led by co-portfolio managers Armen Panossian, Head of Performing Credit at Oaktree, who earned an M.S. in health services research from Stanford Medical School, as well as a J.D. and MBA from Harvard University, and Aman Kumar, Managing Director at Oaktree and a former NHS surgeon, who is a member of the Royal College of Surgeons of England and earned an MBA from the Wharton School, providing a differentiated level of in-house scientific knowledge as well as structuring expertise. They are supported by a global team of sector-dedicated, experienced investment professionals and the resources of Oaktree’s broader credit platform.