Novartis Venture Fund, the corporate venturing unit of Switzerland-based drugs company Novartis, has initially invested $1m in Quro Science, a Korea-based biotechnology start-up developing treatments for infectious diseases, such as AIDS, hepatitis C and tuberculosis.
Quro is the third company to get backing from Novartis’ Get Armed To Explore Global Market II (GATE II) Project, which was launched last year with Korean peers.
Peter Jager, president of Novartis Korea, said: "Investment and support for promising biotechnology start-ups are important initiatives for building foundation for nurturing Korea’s biotechnology industry." "
Novartis Venture Fund has been operational in Korea since 2007 and provided financial and operational support to biotechnology start-ups, he added.