Korea-based biopharmaceutical company CrystalGenomics secured KRW 3bn ($2.6m) in financing on Friday from the Korea Seoul Life Science Fund (KSLSF).
The KSLSF’s general partners are Hanwha Venture Capital, the corporate venturing division of the Hanwha business conglomerate, and venture capital firm Oxford Bioscience Partners, and the fund is backed by an initial investment by the Seoul Metropolitan Government.
The funding closely follows two bond issuances of $8.7m each by CrystalGenomics to KDB Capital, a subsidiary of the Korea Development Bank, and investment firm Tube Investment last month.
CrystalGenomics is planning to use the money to advance clinical trials for an anti-inflammatory agent, an antibiotic drug candidate and an inhibitor for cancer.
Sei-hun, a partner at Hanwha Venture Capital, said: "Our investment decision had been made based on our evaluation criteria for private companies where rigorous data analysis is performed. We thought that despite its drug target risk, the new NSAID for osteoarthritis has potential to meet significant unmet medical needs. We hope that CrystalGenomics can leverage its close relationship with us to succeed in developing a globally recognised novel drug."
Prior to the December investment, CrystalGenomics had received funding from pharmaceutical corporation AstraZeneca as part of a strategic collaboration agreement signed in Jnuary 2010.