‘Double power’ by fund & innovation…‘IT giant’ to neglect KRW 1200 trillion pharmaceutical industries
Nam Do Yeong | namdo0@ | 2018-03-07 10:12:10
`IT giants` such as Google and Amazon are eyeing the world pharmaceutical market worth KRW 1,200 trillion.
They are aggressively investing in promising industries such as biotechnology and pharmaceuticals as the boundaries disappear due to the convergence of industries, with strong funding and innovative capabilities.
Google Ventures has signed an investment agreement with a total of 17 pharmaceutical start-ups for the last three years, amounting to about $ 800 million, according to a report by Silicon Valley investment researcher CB Insight.
Google has invested in several health care start-ups in the past, but considering the fact that the contracts between 2009 and 2014 were only 7, we can see that the investment trend is accelerating recently.
Google `s strategy for the pharmaceutical industry is evolving into a` two - track `venture capital investment and in - house drug development. According to a global trend report from the Center for Biotechnology Policy Research, Google venture capital company Google Ventures said last year that only the "Percult Therapeutics" gene therapy field, "Alzanis" and "Spector Therapeutics" And `Black Tone Therapeutics` in the field of neurobehavioral diseases.
Meanwhile, `Edithas medicin`, a company that develops gene-scissors-based therapies, `23 Andmi `, a company that analyzes gene information, `Grail `, which develops early detection technologies for cancer, and Druntherapeutics and a new drug development company. All of the named bio-pharmaceutical venture companies have also received investment from Google Ventures.
Besides, Google`s biotechnology companies under the parent company`s alphabet, Berylli and Calico, are building their own drug pipeline.
Novellis, Sanofi, and Berylli set up Galvani Bioelectronics in 2016 with GSK to jump into the development of an `electronic medicine`.
Calico is jointly investing USD 1.5 billion with multinational drug maker Abbey in 2014 to develop aging-related disease treatments and last year announced that it will cooperate with `C4 Therapeutics` for five years to develop protein degradation drugs.
Kim Jung-seok, a visiting researcher at Boston University (Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology), said, "One of the reasons for Google`s investment in pharmaceuticals is that it can secure excellent human resources and valuable intellectual property through investment. Ko and Berylli will partner with start-ups to create an opportunity to establish a presence in the pharmaceutical industry. "
Amazon, the world`s largest e-commerce company, is also trying to reach the pharmaceutical market. Since last year, Amazon has been increasing its recruitment of healthcare-related talent, and has acquired a drugstore license in 12 states. It is also known that they are in business negotiations with large generic manufacturers of drugs such as Milan and Sandoz.
Recently, it has been observed that the company is launching a wholesale and online sale of pharmaceuticals by launching a dedicated line for selling OTC drugs in the US pharmaceutical company `FERIGO`. Kim said, "The success of the existing pharmaceutical industry has been a lagging behind in creating innovation." The big companies like Google will shake the pharmaceutical industry and the healthcare industry and change them completely. "
By Nam Do Yeong namdo0@
[ copyright ⓒ The Digitaltimes ]
They are aggressively investing in promising industries such as biotechnology and pharmaceuticals as the boundaries disappear due to the convergence of industries, with strong funding and innovative capabilities.
Google Ventures has signed an investment agreement with a total of 17 pharmaceutical start-ups for the last three years, amounting to about $ 800 million, according to a report by Silicon Valley investment researcher CB Insight.
Google has invested in several health care start-ups in the past, but considering the fact that the contracts between 2009 and 2014 were only 7, we can see that the investment trend is accelerating recently.
Google `s strategy for the pharmaceutical industry is evolving into a` two - track `venture capital investment and in - house drug development. According to a global trend report from the Center for Biotechnology Policy Research, Google venture capital company Google Ventures said last year that only the "Percult Therapeutics" gene therapy field, "Alzanis" and "Spector Therapeutics" And `Black Tone Therapeutics` in the field of neurobehavioral diseases.
Meanwhile, `Edithas medicin`, a company that develops gene-scissors-based therapies, `23 Andmi `, a company that analyzes gene information, `Grail `, which develops early detection technologies for cancer, and Druntherapeutics and a new drug development company. All of the named bio-pharmaceutical venture companies have also received investment from Google Ventures.
Besides, Google`s biotechnology companies under the parent company`s alphabet, Berylli and Calico, are building their own drug pipeline.
Novellis, Sanofi, and Berylli set up Galvani Bioelectronics in 2016 with GSK to jump into the development of an `electronic medicine`.
Calico is jointly investing USD 1.5 billion with multinational drug maker Abbey in 2014 to develop aging-related disease treatments and last year announced that it will cooperate with `C4 Therapeutics` for five years to develop protein degradation drugs.
Kim Jung-seok, a visiting researcher at Boston University (Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology), said, "One of the reasons for Google`s investment in pharmaceuticals is that it can secure excellent human resources and valuable intellectual property through investment. Ko and Berylli will partner with start-ups to create an opportunity to establish a presence in the pharmaceutical industry. "
Amazon, the world`s largest e-commerce company, is also trying to reach the pharmaceutical market. Since last year, Amazon has been increasing its recruitment of healthcare-related talent, and has acquired a drugstore license in 12 states. It is also known that they are in business negotiations with large generic manufacturers of drugs such as Milan and Sandoz.
Recently, it has been observed that the company is launching a wholesale and online sale of pharmaceuticals by launching a dedicated line for selling OTC drugs in the US pharmaceutical company `FERIGO`. Kim said, "The success of the existing pharmaceutical industry has been a lagging behind in creating innovation." The big companies like Google will shake the pharmaceutical industry and the healthcare industry and change them completely. "
By Nam Do Yeong namdo0@