Sofinnova Partners traces its roots to 1972, when Sofinnova S.A. was founded in Paris, later splitting in 1997 into two fully independent firms: the American Sofinnova Investments (now based in Menlo Park) and the Paris-based Sofinnova Partners profiled here. Over more than five decades, Sofinnova has built a genuinely hands-on company-building model across the entire life sciences value chain, from its in-house MD Start medtech accelerator through later-stage growth investing, concentrated specifically on healthcare and sustainability. That patient, science-first approach - led by Chairman Antoine Papiernik, who joined the same year as the 1997 split - has backed more than 500 companies over 50 years, producing 25 IPOs and 30 acquisitions including Shockwave Medical (acquired by Johnson & Johnson), DBV Technologies, and ProQR Therapeutics, with Sofinnova raising €1.2 billion in a single year in 2025 to push total AUM past €4 billion.
Shockwave Medical's acquisition by Johnson & Johnson in 2024 - a cardiovascular device company Sofinnova supported for more than a decade, one of 25 IPOs and 30 acquisitions across the firm's 50-plus year history