Abingworth was founded in 1973 by London stockbrokers Peter Dicks and Hon. Anthony Montagu, initially making broader technology investments - including early stakes in Apple and Silicon Graphics - before Dicks led the firm's pivotal shift to dedicated biotechnology investing with a purpose-built biotech arm established in 1987. That five-decade focus on translating cutting-edge science into medicine, spanning seed through clinical co-development across London, Boston, and the San Francisco Bay Area, produced more than 180 portfolio companies, 73-plus completed IPOs, and 46 acquisitions, including Clovis Oncology and Algeta's sale to Bayer. Carlyle acquired Abingworth in August 2022 to bolster its own healthcare investing franchise, and the firm now operates across the full risk-return spectrum from venture capital to buyouts with more than $2 billion under management.
Clovis Oncology's NASDAQ IPO under ticker CLVS - one of 73-plus IPOs across Abingworth's 50-year history, alongside Algeta's acquisition by Bayer in 2014 and early pre-biotech-pivot stakes in Apple and Silicon Graphics