BioFund establishes Copenhagen office

Having already invested in three biotech companies in the region, Finnish biotech investor BioFund has established an office in Medicon Valley. In only four years BioFund has increased its investments from DKr 250m to DKr 1.5bn and now the fund wishes to invest in life sciences with a special focus on drug discovery, medical technologies, nutraceuticals and environmental technology.

Medicon Valley and the large concentration of biotech companies combined with strong, well-established pharmaceutical companies such as Novo Nordisk, H. Lundbeck and Radiometer, made the area attractive to BioFund. Senior partner, Seppo Mäkinen comments: ‘In Scandinavia, Medicon Valley is the location with the most important potential and with a line of competent companies within the areas in which we are interested.

At present, BioFund administers three funds in Finland, the latest being Bio Ventures III, which held a first closing on EUR 81.55m in May 2001. Seppo Mäkinen indicates that BioFund will establish a fourth fund in Denmark at a later stage: ‘We have good cooperation already with a line of Danish investors and with the subsidiary we hope to be able to develop this cooperation and to find new partners and also new opportunities for the companies in BioFund’s portfolio. The whole biotech world speaks about the necessity of mergers and acquisitions. In the Nordic countries it is our advantage that the similarity of languages and culture makes it easier to merge and acquire companies across the borders. The number of biotech companies in the Nordic countries is large and we have the potential to create strong and important companies – also seen from a global point of view.’

Seppo Mäkinen has moved to Copenhagen to head up the subsidiary.

• Tweet  
• Facebook  
• LinkedIn  
• Google plus  
• Send to  

• Topics
• Nordics