Astellas Venture Management

Astellas Venture Management (AVM) is the wholly-owned corporate venture capital arm of Astellas Pharma, Inc., founded in 2005 and headquartered in South San Francisco, California. AVM invests equity in privately held, early-stage biotechnology companies focused on therapeutic programs and platform technologies for drug discovery and development, with a preference for companies at the preclinical stage. The firm acts as a strategic investor, targeting science that aligns with or could expand Astellas Pharma's R&D pipeline, and prioritizes companies addressing unmet medical needs. AVM differentiates itself through a 'Pharma View' — leveraging deep pharmaceutical industry expertise to support portfolio companies and facilitate dialogue with Astellas Pharma for potential future collaborations. The firm has made over 100 investments since inception and participates in 2–6 investment rounds annually, with deal sizes typically in the $10–50M range. AVM does not publish a formal application portal; prospective companies may contact the team directly via email.