The fund will be managed by the Life Sciences Corporate Venture Capital (LS-CVC), a newly established group within Fujifilm’s Life Sciences Strategy Headquarters in Tokyo. The group will also take on the management of Fujifilm’s existing life science investment portfolio: which includes investments in regenerative medicine, cell therapeutics and drug discovery research products.
For Fujifilm, the new fund will allow it to ‘cultivate and foster relationships with emerging biotechs to create new and strengthen existing businesses’.
Unmet medical needs
In April 2021, Fujifilm established the Life Sciences Strategy Headquarters to plan and promote a comprehensive, integrated strategy to accelerate business growth in the life sciences field.
This headquarters manages several business divisions within the fields of biopharmaceutical contract development and manufacturing, iPS cell-derived products for drug and discovery research markets, and industrial cell culture media.
In the new strategic investment fund, it will be responsible for the placement of funding, while life science offices in Cambridge in the US and Dusseldorf in Europe will be involved in approaching early-stage biotechs and drawing up deals.
“In the field of life sciences, research and development of new technologies and application of biotechnologies have been accelerated to deliver solutions for unmet medical needs and other societal issues, such as food and environmental problems,” said Takatoshi Ishikawa, General Manager of Life Sciences Strategy Headquarters.
“In many cases, early-stage companies are the first to develop cutting-edge technologies and innovative business models. I believe LS-CVC activities will enable us to speedily develop new partnerships with such promising companies, and to deliver value to society through innovative products.”