이 기사는 2022년 03월 15일 07시40분 thebell에 표출된 기사입니다

South Korea’s Daewoong Pharmaceutical has established its first investment entity in the U.S. to discover promising bio startups as part of its plan to strengthen its presence in the overseas market.

The company has established an investment entity called Daewoong Innovation Holdings in Boston, U.S., at the end of last year, according to industry sources.

Daewoong Pharmaceutical injected 2.4 billion won ($1.93 million) in the new company. Daewoong Innovation Holdings is Daewoong Pharmaceutical’s second entity in the U.S. after it established Daewoong America, which is in charge of research and development and export, import and sales of pharmaceuticals.

Daewoong Innovation Holdings will serve as a holding company solely dedicated to making investments, focusing on discovering bio startups with new drugs and promising technologies. It is understood that the company is still in the early stages of establishment and is in talks with partners about business plans. The company is considering whether to make equity investments in multiple bio startups. Dongkyu Uh has been appointed as president of Daewoong Innovation Holdings.

This is the first time Daewoong Pharmaceutical set up an entity dedicated to investments. The company chose the U.S. to set up its investment entity, aiming to gain a foothold in the global market. Daewoong Pharmaceutical has promoted a wide variety of businesses for years, believing that it is important not only to strengthen domestic competitiveness but also to advance into overseas markets. It has established 10 overseas entities, the largest among domestic pharmaceutical companies. It also has research centers in the U.S., India and Thailand.

The company acquired Chinese drug firm Liaoning Baifeng in 2013 and established a joint venture with Indonesian drug firm Infion in 2020 as part of its global push. Daewoong Pharmaceutical and Hanall Biopharma participated in U.S. NurrOn Pharmaceuticals’ Series A funding round in 2020.

Earlier this year, Daewoong Pharmaceutical invested in Exostemtech to develop new exosome treatment. It also partnered with Kangstem Biotech and made equity investment in U.S.-based Immplacate to expand its pipeline. The company has eight drug candidates in the pipeline.

“We plan to make angel investments in early-stage promising startups,” an official at Daewoong Pharmaceutical said. “A concrete plan hasn’t been made, but we have established an entity to make investments in a more active manner.” (Reporting Eun-jin Choi)