After a whirlwind three months of fund raising, Abingworth LLP is ready to put its $587 million to work.

The Abingworth Bioventures V LP (ABV V) fund will invest in approximately 20 biotechnology and other life science companies, providing between $15 million and $40 million per company through all private rounds. Funding will be split about evenly between companies based in the U.S. and those in Europe, spanning all stages of development.

Stephen Bunting, managing director of Abingworth, noted that the firm is "predominantly an earlier-stage" investor. While the definition of early stage can vary greatly among venture capitalists, Bunting is interested in everything from "university environment" start-ups to spin-outs with later-stage assets.

That broad definition of early stage is evidenced by Abingworth's recent deals. Earlier this month, the firm participated in the $18 million Series A round of Prosensa BV, a young Dutch company affiliated with the Leiden University Medical Center Department of Human Genetics, as well as the $65 million Series B round of Novexel SA, a 2004 spin-out of Sanofi-Aventis Group.

On the other end of the spectrum, about 15 percent of Abingworth's venture funds are invested in public companies. Additionally, in July 2005, the firm launched Abingworth BioEquities (ABE), an open-ended fund that invests specifically in undervalued public companies with the potential to provide venture capital-like returns.

Abingworth has "broad taste in investments," according to Bunting, and the ABV V fund will consider even broader business models than in the past. That is due to both a larger Abingworth team that brings a wide range of ideas to the table and the rise of new business models to replace the old approach of acquiring university technology, going public in two years and raising a ton of money to fund drug development.

Despite evolving business models, Bunting still expects to achieve "between large and enormous returns." He declined to specify further, but said he is encouraged by the high valuations garnered through acquisitions. And while calling the U.S. IPO market "tricky," he pointed to encouraging returns gained through Europe's Euronext exchange. Abingworth expects those returns to take time and is prepared to wait three to seven years rather than three to four years as in the past.

The ABV V fund is the largest life science venture fund raised by a firm based in Europe. The entire fund raising process took only three months, with the first close of $435.7 million on Dec. 21 and the final close last Friday.

Despite the increase in funds going to management buy-outs, ABV V was "well north of 50 percent oversubscribed," Bunting said, far exceeding its original target of $490.6 million.

Founded in 1973, Abingworth is based in London and has offices in Cambridge, Mass. and Menlo Park, Calif. The firm has more than $1.25 billion under management, and ABV V is its eighth life sciences fund.