Navitor Pharmaceuticals Inc.’s drug discovery efforts are focused on producing compounds that can selectively dampen or bolster mTORC1 activity. Increased activity of mTORC1 has been linked to metabolic, autoimmune, neurodegenerative, and chronic inflammatory diseases.

Armed with cash from a robust M&A and a stock market boom, mutual and hedge funds are eagerly crossing over into mezzanine rounds for private biotechs and playing key roles in some of the year’s biggest venture financings.

Traditional life-science venture is shrinking, leaving gaps for others to fill. Crossover investors are now more creative and aggressive in reaching out to the best private companies. They often seek out entrepreneurs with glittering track records of repeat success, and some crossover investors also join mezzanine rounds to familiarize themselves with an interesting new company, management team, or technology earlier and at a lower cost than on the public markets.

Corporate venture capital groups have made an impact on life science investing in recent years, but when it comes to going public, the biotechs they back aren’t seeing an extra boost.