Ultra-wealthy family offices made 52 direct investments in private companies in August, with biotech startups accounting for roughly 20 percent of those transactions, according to data provided to CNBC by Fintrx, a private wealth intelligence platform.
The numbers reflect a broader rebound in life sciences funding. U.S. and European biopharma startups raised $12.6 billion in the first half of 2026, a five-year high, according to analysis by Silicon Valley Bank, now a division of First Citizens Bank following its 2023 collapse and sale.
Stanley Druckenmiller's Duquesne Family Office was among the most active participants. The firm has backed at least four pharmaceutical or life sciences companies this year. In August, Duquesne participated in a $90 million Series C round for Epicrispr Biotechnologies, an eight-year-old startup developing a gene therapy for a rare muscle disorder called facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy, or FSHD.
Druckenmiller explained his interest in the sector at the start of the year. "I knew because I've been on the board of Memorial Sloan Kettering for 30 years, that probably the best use case out there of AI is biotech through drug discovery, diagnostics, monitoring everything," he said in an interview conducted by Morgan Stanley.
The family office of Jeff Bezos also moved into the space in August, joining a $188 million Series E round for LifeMine Therapeutics. LifeMine uses artificial intelligence to analyze fungal genomes in search of new drug compounds. The company is currently testing a drug intended to prevent organ failure in transplant patients. Bill Gates' venture capital firm, Gates Frontier, also participated in that round.
Despite the surge in total dollars raised, investors are writing fewer checks overall. Silicon Valley Bank's analysis found that a greater share of funding is going toward companies with drugs already in clinical testing, with early-stage startups receiving less attention than in prior years. The data draws on both SVB's own figures and information from PitchBook.
The concentration of large checks in late-stage companies tracks with how family offices have approached the space. Firms like Duquesne are increasingly seeking companies that are closer to having products with demonstrated potential, rather than bets at the earliest stages of development.
