Fund manager Baillie Gifford has launched a UK OEIC Health Innovation Fund which will invest in companies working on pioneering therapies, diagnostics and digital technology.

The new OEIC will sit alongside an existing Dublin-registered UCITS fund which was made available to external investors in April, having launched in October 2018 with initial investment from Baillie Gifford partners.

Total assets under management for the Baillie Gifford Health Innovation UCITS fund are currently $113m (£84m) plus an additional $206m (£153m) in segregated mandates.

Both funds are managed by a team of three: Julia Angeles, Rose Nguyen and Marina Record plus an advisory group of five other investment managers.

Performance will be measured over five years or more. Since inception Baillie Gifford says the UCITS fund performance has been 87.4% (gross of fees in USD) versus 23.9% for MSCI All Countries World Index.

The portfolio invests in around 35 listed mid-size high-growth companies involved in healthcare innovation.

Baillie Gifford says it already invests £29bn in health-related companies across several funds and believes that “society is on the cusp of a revolution in our understanding of human biology and approach to health.”

James Budden, director of marketing and distribution at Baillie Gifford, said: “With increasing convergence within the fields of science and technology, medicine is likely to be further revolutionised towards prevention and cure in order to help us live healthier and longer lives.

“As patient investors, we are keen to help companies build sustainable business models for the breakthroughs they are working on. For the moment, we are focused on building up a track record for the Baillie Gifford Health Innovation Fund and developing awareness of the OEIC within the UK marketplace.”