Vivo Capital

Vivo operates dedicated US and China investment teams that raise capital through separate fund families but invest under a unified partnership. The US vehicle has historically focused on early-stage therapeutics and medical devices seeking global markets, while the China team targets domestic healthcare services, generic pharmaceuticals, and local device manufacturers. The firm's leadership team oversees the overall portfolio strategy, allowing for cross-border knowledge transfer.

Vivo invests across the full lifecycle of healthcare companies: seed and Series A rounds for early-stage biotech platforms, growth equity for commercial-stage drug and device companies, and select buyout opportunities in healthcare services. The firm also occasionally participates in PIPEs and other structured public-market transactions, particularly during biotech market dislocations.

Investment decisions are made by the firm's partnership, which includes its co-founders Frank Kung and Edgar Engleman alongside a broader group of managing directors in the US and China. Individual deal teams lead sourcing and diligence, but final investment committee approval requires consensus among senior partners.

Vivo Capital has remained exclusively focused on healthcare and life sciences throughout its history. It does not invest in consumer technology, industrials, financial services, or other sectors outside its specialized mandate. Within healthcare, the firm has historically avoided provider-side hospital operations in the US, concentrating instead on products, platforms, and services with scalable intellectual property.

The firm combines academic and clinical networks — its co-founders include a Stanford immunologist — with longstanding relationships among Chinese regulators, hospital systems, and local entrepreneurs. Vivo's presence in Beijing, Shanghai, and Hong Kong gives it proximity to companies that international funds cannot easily access, while its Palo Alto base provides similar depth in Bay Area biotech.

Vivo is an independent partnership with no structural affiliation to larger financial institutions. It was among the earliest specialist firms to build a dedicated US-China healthcare investment operation, predating many of the cross-border platforms that emerged in the 2010s. Some of its alumni have gone on to launch their own healthcare funds, but Vivo maintains no controlling stake in outside firms.

Vivo has historically welcomed co-investment from its limited partners on larger growth-stage and buyout transactions. The firm does not run a formal co-investment club but accommodates LP-directed capital on a deal-by-deal basis, particularly in its later-stage US funds.