Big pharma participation in venture capital financing has become increasingly important as other investors hesitate to fund the biopharmaceutical sector based on macroeconomic unease. With even health care-focused VC firms holding off on new investments so that they can support existing portfolio companies through the financing downturn, corporate venture capital funds and pharma firms, such as Eli Lilly and Company, have provided significant backing in recent years.
Finance Watch: Lilly, Fosun Reveal Strategic Investments In Start-Ups, Growth-Stage Firms
Big Pharma Role In Financing Gains Importance
Private Company Edition: Lilly will open a third accelerator, this time in San Diego, and Fosun partnered with Treehill to help later-stage firms get over the finish line. Also, Flagship – after recent UK investments – signals its next fund will total $3bn. ArrivoBio and Alto Neuroscience raised $45m each.

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Private Company Edition: The latest group of drug developers to announce venture capital financings is remarkable for its geographic diversity, from Character Biosciences’ $93m series B round in the US to Augustine’s $85m series B in Belgium to a $29.2m series C for Aculys in Japan.
Kyoto-based venture moves HQ to California to expand R&D and business outreach for its regulatory T-cell technology, as it raises around $46m in public and private funding.
The Belgian firm banks nearly €77.7m to push its Charcot-Marie-Tooth to proof-of-concept.
A new report from a domestic institute on South Korea’s biopharma M&A trends shows a pickup in activity, but that this remains relatively weak and small-scale. It calls for broader domestic government support to build expertise, drive innovation and globalization.
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