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US biotech firm MedImmune launches $100m venture fund

US biotech firm MedImmune is launching a $100m corporate venture fund to target biotech start-ups in its local Washington DC-neighbourhood.

Their decision provides further evidence of the attractiveness of the biotech sector for venture investing.

Dr Wayne T Hockmeyer, founder and former chief executive of MedImmune, told the Washington Post: ‘I think there's a significant need for biotech investment…This area has a lot of good opportunities.'

Biotech has been one of the few venture sectors to enjoy significant investment activity over the past 12 months and is widely expected to remain a popular destination for the foreseeable future.

A new piece of research published by AltAssets earlier this week predicted a continuation of the influx of new biotech-focused venture firms for the next two years. It said the compelling fundamentals of the industry are underpinning bright medium-term prospects for the sector. 

Some of the established pharmaceuticals firms have had corporate venturing activities for years. Johnson & Johnson, for example, has been investing since 1973. They traditionally have both a financial and a strategic motive, looking to make decent returns and to keep an eye open for promising technologies and emerging therapies.

MedImmune, however, is one of the first pure biotechs to formalise corporate venturing activity.

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