US-based pharmaceutical company Merck’s Global Health Innovation Fund has gained another $250m to invest in healthcare and will look outside of the US for the next tranche.
The additional commitment comes after the corporate venturing group has invested nearly all of its first tranche within the past two years in healthcare start-ups outside Merck’s core sectors of pharmaceuticals, vaccines, consumer products and animal health businesses.
William Taranto, managing director of Merck’s Global Health Innovation Fund (pictured), said: “We have deployed a majority of the first $250m tranche and expect to have 20 investments by the end of year. Merck is committed to venture capital and has approved another $250m to be deployed starting in January 2013.”
Investments by the group so far have included US-based point of care diagnostics group Daktari and US-based cardiovascular risk assessment company Aviir.
The fund is looking to diversify its investments by region, after having focused the first fund on North America. Taranto said: “Our main goal of the second tranche is to deploy more capital outside of North America. We have not determined the amount. We will still do investments here in US, but are committed to deploying as much of the fund outside the US as we can. We want to grow to other parts of the world as the whole point is to give Merck optionality around future mergers and acquisitions on a global basis.”
The international expansion of the fund will put the US company into potential collaboration with its namesake based in Germany.
US-listed Merck is separate to Germany-based Merck following a split in the business during the Second World War. Germany-based does corporate venturing in Europe and Israel through its Merck Serono Ventures unit.
Taranto was one of the speakers at Global Corporate Venturing’s second annual conference in May. The transcript of his panel can be read here.