PRINT THIS PAGE US biotech giant Amgen announces plans to form venture capital fund15/11/2004. Source: AltAssets. 
 US biotech giant Amgen has announced plans to establish a corporate venturing fund to invest in emerging businesses working the area of human therapeutics. The firm will make an initial commitment of $100m and will be based in San Diego, California.
Roger Perlmutter, executive vice president of research and development at Amgen, said the fund would be a valuable source of capital for young companies as well as providing Amgen with access to the science being developed within early-stage businesses.
'Our internal efforts concentrate on therapeutic areas such as oncology and metabolic disorders and inflammation. However, we understand that science is a global and collective endeavour, and that many of the scientific breakthroughs of tomorrow will come from early-stage companies.'
Amgen said the focus of the fund's investment would be on areas of its current therapeutic interest but would also include novel modalities with the potential to address targets in broader areas.
The announcement may signal a reawakening of interest in corporate venturing, which fell sharply out of vogue following the collapse of the TMT bubble in 2000. A lot of venturing units were wound up or sold off and large businesses have yet to show much enthusiasm to restart their efforts.
Copyright © 2004 AltAssets
|
