Hanmi Pharm announced on July 4 that it has founded venture capital firm ‘Hanmi Ventures’ in order to identify potential drug candidates and invest in biopharmaceutical ventures.
Hanmi Pharm Chairman Lim Sung-ki and the company’s affiliates invested 10 billion won in founding Hanmi Ventures, which had already completed the incorporation process and register its business on June 29.
According to Hanmi Pharm, Holding company Hanmi Science was supposed to directly invest in founding Hanmi Ventures, but the initial plan was derailed as the Fair Trade Act bans holding companies from owning a financial subsidiary.
Hanmi Ventures will be headed up by Hanmi IT CEO Lim Jong-hoon, and Hanmi Pharm Vice Presidents Son Ji-woong and Kim Jae-sik have been appointed as the first directors.
Hanmi Ventures will discover early-stage promising drug candidates and make strategic investments in new biotech and pharmaceutical ventures in order to create an open innovation ecosystem.
Hanmi Science and Hanmi Pharm will take over the job of investing in commercial-ready drug candidates and SMEs. The synergy between Hanmi Ventures and Hanmi Pharmaceutical Group is expected to help the entire group secure new growth engines and set the stage for new drug development.
