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The Korea Herald
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THE INVESTOR
March 29, 2024

Bio

KyungDong Pharma invests W1b in biotech fund

  • PUBLISHED :February 01, 2019 - 14:23
  • UPDATED :February 01, 2019 - 14:23
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[THE INVESTOR] Korean drug maker KyungDong Pharmaceutical said on Feb. 1 that it has invested 1 billion won (US$894,694) in a biotech and health care related startup focused fund led by venture capital firm DAYLI Partners

DAYLI Partners is a venture capital firm that has been focusing on investing in bio companies. A cell therapy developing startup Anterogen is one of the companies that it has recently funded.




Until recently, KyungDong was not an active investor, despite its sufficient cash flow. Its net cash reserves reach 82 billion won as of third quarter last year. The firm has started funding other bio firms since last year.

“We are searching for new businesses to diversify our portfolio,” KyungDong Pharma CEO Ryu Gi-sung said in a statement.

In April last year, it became the largest shareholder of environmental firm GenNBio after buying 10.74 shares for 7.2 billion won. The company has also invested additional 10 billion won in the firm to support its expansion.

“We see that funding in promising bio and pharma startups also gives us a chance to meet good business partners that we can work with in the future,” Ryu said.

The company added that it will make additional investments worth around 3 billion won this year.

Established in 1975, the Korean pharma firm is known for selling drugs for hyperlipidemia. It sales as of the third quarter last year reached 133.5 billion won, while posting 26 billion won operating loss.

By Song Seung-hyun (ssh@heraldcorp.com)

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