USA · 18 Oct 2026 · 05:07 GMT ·2 min read

Pension Funds Incurred Millions in Losses from Ramaswamy-Linked Biotech Stocks

NEUTRALITY 64 · MIXED· 2 sources

Coolphill / Wikimedia Commons

Public pension funds, including the Ohio State Teachers Retirement System, lost nearly $7.5 million in market value after stock drops at two biotech firms founded by gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy. Ohio held 32,100 Axovant Sciences shares worth $744,000 in June 2017. By later that year, 33,100 shares were worth $227,000 following a failed Alzheimer’s drug trial. A 9,100-share Immunovant position fell from $420,000 to $146,000 by March 2021 after clinical trials paused. These figures reflect market value changes. They show risks public funds face in volatile biotech sectors.

Context

Vivek Ramaswamy founded Roivant Sciences. The company held controlling interests in Axovant Sciences and Immunovant. Public pension funds, including the State Teachers Retirement System of Ohio, held shares in these companies before their stock prices collapsed. Observers now scrutinize these events as part of a broader examination of how public retirement systems allocate capital into high-risk biotechnology ventures.

Supportive perspectives

Institutional investors, including public pension funds, regularly include biotechnology companies in their investment portfolios to pursue growth.
The available filings do not establish that Vivek Ramaswamy or the companies he founded deliberately targeted pension systems as investors.
Stock prices declined following specific clinical trial outcomes. These included the failed MINDSET trial and the paused Immunovant trials. Researchers halted the Immunovant trials because of elevated cholesterol levels. Such outcomes represent standard risks in the biotechnology sector.
Pension loss analysis relies on changes in publicly reported values. These figures do not confirm realized trading losses or direct transfers to Ramaswamy.

Critical perspectives

Public retirement systems in California, New York, Virginia, Florida, and Wisconsin lost an estimated $7.49 million in value. This loss resulted from stock-price declines in these companies between the reporting dates examined.
The State Teachers Retirement System of Ohio held 32,100 shares of Axovant Sciences at the end of June 2017. STRS Ohio later reported 33,100 shares worth $227,000, down from $744,000 between June 30, 2017, and September 30, 2017, following the failure of a major Alzheimer's drug trial.
STRS Ohio held 9,100 shares of Immunovant worth $420,000 on December 31, 2020. Following a clinical trial pause on February 2, 2021, due to elevated cholesterol levels, the position value fell to approximately $146,000 by March 31, 2021.