Scynexis highlights enrollment exceeding expectations in Phase III VVC trials; Daré prepares to enter Phase III to treat BV.

Some of the biggest life science VCs are spending hundreds of millions of dollars to run the clinical trials of drugs owned by big drugmakers. But if the strategy works, they may have come up with a better way to diversify their portfolios in an era when long-term company-building isn’t paying off.

Slated for May 9, this offering for the largest CRO is expected to attract a wide range of investors, including health care specialists and growth-oriented generalists. The IPO filing shows how the biopharma industry is rebounding. But the CRO’s risk-sharing projects with pharma, which gained attention in recent years, don’t seem to be that productive.

Some of the biggest names in life science venture capital – OrbiMed Advisors, Clarus Ventures, and Abingworth – are spending hundreds of millions of dollars to run the clinical trials of drugs owned by Pfizer and other big drugmakers. They’re taking on major clinical and regulatory risks for what might be less-than-stellar returns but if it works, these VCs may have come up with a better way to diversify their portfolios in an era when long-term company-building isn’t paying off.