Lilly to Invest Up to $150 Million in Venture Funds
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Eli Lilly & Co. plans to invest as much as $150 million in three venture capital funds to aid development of new medicines, as the company faces generic competition next year to its top-selling antipsychotic drug.
The funds may be worth a total of $750 million, up to $250 million each, and Lilly will contribute as much as 20 percent of the money, Darren Carroll, vice president of the Lilly group that oversees venture investments, said yesterday in an interview. CMEA Capital, a San Francisco venture-capital firm, started raising money in August for one of the funds with Lilly, according to two people with knowledge of CMEA’s plans.