Two Japan-based pharmaceutical companies have each committed $30m to a new venture capital firm, Remiges Ventures, which will target early stage drug developers.
Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma and Taiho Pharmaceutical, which operates as a subsidiary of Otsuka Holdings, are backing the firm, which has offices in Massachusetts and Tokyo, they stated in separate press releases last week.
Remiges has so far raised $70m of a targeted $150m for its inaugural fund, Remiges BioPharma Fund, according to an SEC filing.
The fund will concentrate on companies working on drugs to treat underserved medical conditions where there is a clear path to regulatory approval and definable commercial opportunity in the United States.
Taro Inaba, who previously spent 11 years at Mitsui Ventures, a corporate venturing subsidiary of diversified corporation Mitsui, including a stint as its chief executive, is Remiges’ managing director. Walter Olesiak, who worked at Mitsui Ventures for eight years, is a partner at the firm.