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Investment bank Goldman Sachs is jumping into the biotech world after raising $650 million to invest in privately held startups.

The bank announced Wednesday that it has closed its first-ever life sciences fund, called West Street Life Sciences I. The plan is to invest the money in genetic medicine, cell therapies, immunotherapies, synthetic biology and artificial intelligence startups, as well as diagnostics and life science tools companies.

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First-time funds have been difficult to raise during the biotech downturn. Last year, around $11.6 billion was raised by 183 new VC funds, which was the lowest fundraising total for first-timers since 2013, according to Pitchbook. Around $25.6 billion had been raised by 556 first-time funds in 2022.

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