JPMorgan's $500M Venture Capital Fund Bets Big On Weight-Loss Drugs: 'They're All The Rage'

JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s JPM asset management division has reportedly secured over $500 million for a biotech venture capital fund focusing on weight-loss drugs, targeting the booming sector of the healthcare industry.

The fund concluded this month, and according to Steve Squinto, the chief investment officer of the unit’s life-sciences team, “the top three choices are obesity, obesity, and obesity,” Bloomberg reported, citing an interview with Squinto.

Glucagon-like peptide-1 or GLP-1, commonly referred to as weight-loss drugs, “are all the rage,” Squinto stated, emphasizing that the field is “wide open,” the report added.

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“This has the opportunity to be a pivotal moment in the pharmaceutical industry,” Bloomberg added.

The new class of weight-loss drugs has exploded in popularity in recent months, with ballooning demand causing shortages.

Novo Nordisk NVO and Eli Lilly And Company LLY currently command the field.

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“It’s very unlikely that the future of obesity treatment will be dominated by a stable duopoly,” Gaurav Gupta, the fund’s managing partner, said in an interview with Bloomberg. “There will be significant winners.”

In late 2022, JPMorgan, the largest U.S. bank, recruited Squinto and Gupta as its $3.6 trillion asset management business initiated the life sciences team. This group, comprising seven members, operates within the bank’s private capital business, a segment of its broader alternatives division.

Apart from weight-loss treatments, the fund will invest in sectors like oncology and immunology.

Price Action: JPM shares are trading higher by 0.32% to $192.14 premarket at last check Thursday.

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