Big Money Bails: Why 5AM Ventures Dumped Its Entire MoonLake Position

The headline: 5AM Venture Management just liquidated its entire stake in MoonLake Immunotherapeutics (NASDAQ: MLTX)—282,313 shares worth roughly $13.3 million, completely wiping out what used to be 5.12% of the fund’s portfolio.

Why it matters: MLTX got absolutely hammered, down nearly 75% over the past 12 months. A venture fund doing a full exit is basically the institutional equivalent of “I’m out”—and that usually signals conviction that near-term catalysts are either too uncertain or too far away.

The real story: MoonLake is a clinical-stage biotech betting everything on sonelokimab, a Nanobody therapy targeting inflammatory diseases like psoriatic arthritis and hidradenitis suppurativa. The problem? Phase II trial results are the only thing that matters now. Miss or disappoint, and the stock tanks further. Hit, and it could rip. That’s the binary risk that freaks out risk-averse funds.

What’s left in the portfolio: After the exit, 5AM’s top holdings shifted to SKYE ($38M, 13.9% AUM), TRDA ($24.7M), and PHVS ($19.9M). Classic rebalancing toward less speculative assets.

The takeaway: One fund bailing doesn’t kill the science behind MoonLake’s pipeline, but it’s a stark reminder that when you’re pre-revenue and trial-dependent, institutional patience has a shelf life. For anyone holding MLTX, clinical milestones are everything—ignore fund flows, watch the data.