From WRAL TechWire
GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE:GSK) and Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ), a pair of drug giants, are pooling resources in their search for firms that might deliver giant returns and blockbuster products.
The two companies are teaming with Index Ventures to form a $200 million investment fund.
GSK and J&J are each contributing $50 million, Index the remainder.
Moncef Slaoui, who heads GSK's research and development, will sit on the fund's advisory board.
“It’s very important for us to find alternative strategies to access innovation. Index has a very attractive model," Slaoui said, according to The Financial Times.
The fund's goal is to invest in between 10-20 companies and a total of 15-30 molecules for potential drug development, the newspaper said.
Index Ventures focuses on early-stage, single asset companies in Europe, the U.S. and Israel.
“By investing in this fund, they are really super-powering or turbo-charging the asset-centric investment model,” Francesco De Rubertis, the Index Ventures partner who is leading the fund, told Bloomberg news. “They are validating it as a potential new model for early-stage R&D funding.”
GSK also has a venture capital arm.
The company operates its U.S. headquarters in RTP and global headquarters in London.
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