This article was published on July 21, 2025, at 4:13 p.m. on the ChosunBiz MoneyMove site.
Biotech companies developing new drugs have been pushing for large-scale fundraising. Recently, as stock prices for pharmaceuticals and biotech in the domestic market have risen, combined with expectations from the new government's support for the biotech industry, the demand for investments in unlisted biotechs has revved up among major venture capital firms.
According to the VC industry on the 21st, biotechs focused on developing cancer drugs, such as immune oncology drugs, have begun large-scale fundraising efforts. Representative examples include NEX-I, which specializes in developing immune oncology drugs, and Txinno Bioscience, known for developing innate immune oncology agents.
In particular, NEX-I recently increased its fundraising target from 50 billion won to 60 billion won. The demand for investment from large VCs like DSC Investment led to this increase. Txinno Bioscience has started contacting investors, including VCs, with the goal of raising new funds of around 50 billion won.
A source in the VC industry noted, "The investment interest from domestic VCs in mid- to late-stage biotechs has significantly increased this year," adding, "Dr. Song Ho-jun, the original developer of the non-small cell lung cancer treatment 'Laseritnib,' has also been pushing for investment in PineTree Therapeutics, which he established in the United States."
Biotech companies developing new drugs faced challenges earlier due to interest rate hikes that began in the second half of 2022. With the goal of attracting continuous investments for new drug development, the rising cost of capital pushed them down the list of preferred investments. At the same time, the hurdles for listing became higher, leading to neglect from VCs.
Analysts point out that the recent revival of the IPO market and ongoing increases in biotech stock prices in the domestic market have contributed to this change. Coupled with the new government's establishment, expectations for support measures for the biotech industry have shifted the atmosphere toward revival in venture investments in biotech.
President Lee Jae-myung has designated the biotech industry as a national strategic industry to aim for Korea to become one of the top five global biotech powers during his presidential campaign, promising the creation of specialized funds and the training of professional personnel. He also pledged to establish an ecosystem that merges new technologies such as artificial intelligence and big data for new drug development aimed at global expansion.
Especially for biotechs that have proven their technological competitiveness through technology exports of candidate substances, situations are emerging where investors, including VCs, proactively make investment offers. For instance, NEX-I's successful technology export to Ono Pharmaceutical in Japan last year served as a catalyst for this round of fundraising.
In the biotech sector, expectations are rising that more than five biotechs will secure large-scale fundraisings of over 50 billion won this year. Last month, AimedBio, a company developing antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs), completed a 50 billion won pre-IPO fundraising, boosting industry expectations.
Additionally, Illimis Therapeutics, which is developing a treatment for Alzheimer's disease, recently secured new investments of 58 billion won, further increasing expectations. This is the largest fundraising for a biotech this year, with large VCs such as DSC Investment, Woori Venture Partners, and LB Investment participating as investors.
A source in the VC industry remarked, "While we cannot say that investor sentiment towards the overall biotech industry has recovered, large amounts of capital are flowing into biotechs with revenue bases established through global technology transfers," adding that "some biotechs are even showing signs of selectively accepting investors."