The Ministry of Health and Welfare will launch the K-bio·vaccine fund No. 7 to expand investment in the biohealth sector. The fund is set to be pushed as a 200 billion won vehicle, double the initial target, and is expected to accelerate the "bio mega-fund" strategy to move beyond a generics-centered industry structure and build a global new drug development and innovation ecosystem.
The ministry said on the 24th that it selected Premier Partners as the lead manager for the K-bio·vaccine fund No. 7. The government, through the Korea Venture Investment Corporation, has been soliciting managers since March and finalized the manager after a document review, on-site due diligence, and presentation evaluation.
The K-bio·vaccine fund No. 7 will be created based on 40 billion won in government investment (20 billion won from the Ministry of Health and Welfare budget and 20 billion won from recovered capital). While the initially announced target fund size was 100 billion won, Premier Partners proposed to double it to 200 billion won.
Once the fund secures at least 70 billion won, it can commence investment by forming on a first-close basis. If the full 200 billion won target is raised, the cumulative size of the K-bio·vaccine funds will increase to 779.6 billion won.
At least 60% of investments must go to domestic corporations across the entire biohealth sector, and at least 10% must be invested in companies developing vaccine-related innovative technologies and manufacturing processes.
The new fund is in line with the government's ongoing strategy to foster a bio investment ecosystem. Since 2013, the government has created dedicated pharmaceutical·bio funds to supply large-scale capital to corporations developing innovative new drugs. To date, using 291 billion won in government investment as seed money, a total of 13 sub-funds and 1.2746 trillion won in funds have been formed.
The first-round funds (No. 1–7) were formed at 695 billion won based on 131 billion won in government investment from 2013 to 2021. Through these, 583.7 billion won was invested in 111 corporations, and 19 corporations newly listed. About 59% of the investment went to the pharmaceutical sector, and 20% was concentrated in medical devices.
Since 2023, the second-round K-bio·vaccine funds have been formed into six sub-funds totaling 579.6 billion won, based on 160 billion won in government contributions to date. So far, 246.3 billion won has been invested in 52 corporations, and three of them have newly listed. The pharmaceutical sector accounted for the highest share at 85%, and medical devices took 10%.
Alongside expanding the K-bio·vaccine funds, the ministry plans to support large-scale clinical trials. It is proceeding with the selection process for a manager of the 150 billion won "phase 3 clinical trials specialized fund," plans to select a lead manager in July, and aims to complete fund formation within the year.
Jeong Eun-young, director general of the Health Industry Policy Bureau at the Ministry of Health and Welfare, said, "We expect the No. 7 fund to be successfully formed and to invigorate investment in biotechs and small and midsize to mid-cap companies with innovative technologies," and added, "We will support new drug and platform technology development and push without a hitch to form a 1 trillion won mega-fund by 2027."