British biotech industry gains £200m boost
pharmafile | March 21, 2012 | News story | Research and Development, Sales and Marketing | GSK, Wellcome Trust, biotech, fund
The Wellcome Trust is to launch a £200 million business that will invest in emerging healthcare and life sciences firms.
Currently known as ‘Project Sigma’, a name for the new entity will be announced shortly. Its £200 million of initial capital is taken from the trust’s endowment.
Emphasising the importance of taking a long-term view, Wellcome director Sir Mark Walport, said: “Sigma will extend this successful approach to direct investments in emerging healthcare technologies, to give small and medium-sized companies the support they require to fulfil their potential.”
Sigma will be directly owned and managed and will seek to deliver what Wellcome calls ‘attractive’ returns on the capital it invests.
The BioIndustry Association (BIA) welcomed the announcement, praising Wellcome’s commitment to funding projects over the long haul.
“Given the time required to bring innovative healthcare developments to market, it is especially pleasing to see that the fund will take a long term view,” said BIA interim chief executive Glyn Edwards.
Speaking in advance of George Osborne’s Budget announcement today, Edwards added that the government must take additional measures to improve the funding of innovative companies.
“We believe the government should introduce Citizens Innovation Funds which would make the government an enabler, rather than a provider of much needed investment in biotech,” Edwards suggested.
This would have the added benefit of “encouraging investment in innovation by the general public”, he concluded.
Nigel Keen, a venture capitalist and founder of AIM-listed Deltex Medical, will be chairman of Sigma, while Martin Murphy has been appointed chief executive.
Keen is also chairman of other health and electronics companies, including Oxford Instruments, Laird and Bioquell.
Murphy was previously a partner at venture capital company MVM Life Science Partners and has worked for 3i Group and McKinsey & Company.
Sigma is the latest addition to Wellcome’s lengthy track record of providing hard cash to improve medical science.
Earlier this month the global charitable foundation donated £10 million to Dundee University to support a multi-million pound partnership with GlaxoSmithKline on neglected parasitic diseases.
Adam Hill
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