The investment is SEP’s first major financing round.

London-based SEP has used the financing to buy Swiss pharmaceutical company Proreo Pharma International. It also acquired the worldwide rights to Plenaxis – a treatment for prostate cancer – from US company Praecis Pharmaceuticals Plenaxis.

SEP’s chief executive Geoff McMillan says: ‘The rationale for founding SEP was to acquire products with potential for a broader pan-European appeal and these two acquisitions very much fall into that sweet-spot.’

Launched by Advent in September 2006, SEP acquires pharmaceutical prescription products to develop and market in Europe. Rather than raising a war chest, the company will seek funding for specific acquisitions.

Advent has more than £500 million under management. General partner Patrick Lee is a non-executive director at SEP.