Fidelity CEO taps personal fortune for bets on cancer-related IPOs
By Tim McLaughlin BOSTON (Reuters) - Fidelity Investments Chief Executive Officer Abigail Johnson is betting part of her personal fortune on several companies developing cancer treatments, including three that have recently announced plans for initial public offerings. In recent months, biopharmaceutical investments made on behalf of the 53-year-old billionaire and her siblings either have surged in value or have advanced further toward their stock market debuts. Johnson has made her investments through Impresa Management LLC, whose key shareholders include trusts for her and two siblings, Edward C. Johnson IV and Elizabeth Johnson, according to recent disclosures with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Abigail Johnson, who runs the No. 2 U.S. mutual fund company, was a pre-IPO investor in Coherus BioSciences Inc. Coherus, whose shares have more than doubled since going public in November, is developing a biosimilar drug for Neulasta, a medicine that boosts the body's immune system during chemotherapy. Impresa owned Coherus shares worth $10 million on Dec. 31, filings show. The stock's value has climbed more than 60 percent since then. Impresa has $2.3 billion in assets under management. One of its biggest holdings at the end of last year was a $353 million stake in Chinese Internet commerce company Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, SEC filings show. Johnson also is poised to capitalize on the stock market debuts of Adaptimmune Therapeutics Plc, ViewRay Inc and Blueprint Medicines Corp, SEC filings show. United Kingdom-based Adaptimmune this week disclosed plans to raise up to $150 million in an IPO to help advance cancer-fighting therapies that use white blood cells. Adaptimmune's investors include Beacon Bioventures, which has Impresa as a general partner. Beacon owns about 13.6 million preferred shares in the company, SEC filings show. Beacon and Impresa hold about a 23 percent stake in Cleveland-based ViewRay, which filed for a $64 million IPO in February and makes an MRI machine that targets soft-tissue tumors with radiation. In a similar arrangement, Beacon and Impresa own 42 percent of Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Blueprint Medicines. The company filed for a $100 million IPO last month, with plans to use the proceeds to advance the development of its anti-cancer treatments. Forbes estimates Johnson's net worth at about $13 billion. She declined to comment for this story. Fidelity spokesman Vincent Loporchio said the investments were private holdings and did not affect the company's mutual funds. (Reporting by Tim McLaughlin; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)
