이 기사는 2019년 10월 15일 08시00분 thebell에 표출된 기사입니다

South Korea's Pharmaceutical and Bio-Pharma private equity fund (PEF), managed by Korea Investment Partners (KIP) is gaining attention. The big fund is anticipated to generate high returns amid a boom in pharmaceutical and bio-pharma industry.

According to industry sources on October 7, 'Korea Investment Global Pharmaceutical Industry Promotion Private Equity Fund (Global Pharma PEF)' invested 12 billion won in TiumBio and owns over 3.62 million shares. TiumBio kicked off its initial public offering (IPO) on KOSDAQ. Based on the bottom end of the IPO pricing range, Global Pharma PEF's shares are worth around 58 billion won.

Global Pharma PEF was created in 2015 with 135 billion won in committed capital. It was part of the Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW)'s project to promote and nurture pharmaceutical and bio-pharma companies whose technology is promising but capital strength is weak. MOWH (20 billion won), Korea Finance Corporation (50 billion won), Korea Investment & Securities (10 billon won), KIP (20 billion) invested in the PEF.

Targeting domestic and overseas pharmaceutical and bio-pharma companies, the fund has deployed over 120 billion won. Funds managed by venture capital firms normally spend 85~90 percent of total commitments, considering management fee and operating cost.

The fund invested 5 billion won in Ahngook Pharm and AGBIO Diagnostics, respectively and 10 billion won in Handok Kalos Medical. It also invested in three affiliates of Huons Group - Huons Medicare, Huons Natural, and Biotopia.

Global Pharma PEF's investment ranges from mezzanines issued by listed companies to equity investment in private companies. Most of the listed companies, such as HLB, Lego Chem Bio, and CTC Bio have a long history with the PEF.

Among private companies, the fund invested in ABL Bio (11 billion won), Denflex (2 billion won), Precision Biosensor (2.4 billion won), TiumBio (9 billion won), Gencurix (2 billion won), BioSynetics (3 billion won), and Genome & Company (4 billion won). The fund also invested in the overseas bio-pharma companies, such as Elastagen in Australia (5 million dollar) and Eloxx Pharmaceutical in Israel (4.4 billion won).

ABL Bio, which the fund strategically invested in, like it did with TiumBio, made its stock market debut last year. The fund owns over 3.8 million shares in the company, which equates to 68 billion won based on the current stock price of 18 thousand won. In April, the fund sold its shares in ABL Bio for approximately 60 billion won. TiumBio and ABL Bio alone already surpass committed capital.

The fund also exited its investment in Elastagen with Allergan's acquisition of Elastagen, returning multiple of four times. The fund also exited from HLB.

"It is hard for funds with large capital commitments to record high returns compared with fund with small commitments. As far as I know, Global Pharma PEF has a unique strategy for high returns, which begins with incubating promising bio-pharma companies," said one venture capital industry source.

(By reporter Lee Youn-jae)