Oaktree Capital racks up $2.3bn for inaugural life sciences lending fund

• The fund is being led by Armen Panossian, head of performing credit at Oaktree and Aman Kumar, managing director
• Oaktree has $172 billion in assets under management as of March 31, 2023
• Oaktree’s private credit platform was created in 2001 and manages approximately $24 billion

Oaktree Capital Management has closed its debut life sciences lending fund at $2.3 billion.

The fund will focus on sectors such as biopharma and medical devices.

“Life sciences is a critical and economically resilient industry that is supported by secular tailwinds, including increasing healthcare spending, record pace of technological innovation, and aging populations across the developed world,” said Armen Panossian, head of performing credit at Oaktree in a statement. “Additionally, while the sector has been traditionally funded largely by equity, thoughtful management teams and investors are increasingly realizing that structured debt and other alternative financing structures such as royalties can play an equally important role in enabling innovative life sciences companies to achieve their growth objectives.”

In addition to Panossian, the fund is also being led by Aman Kumar, managing director at Oaktree.

Oaktree has $172 billion in assets under management as of March 31, 2023.

Oaktree’s private credit platform was created in 2001 and manages approximately $24 billion.