CrystalGenomics Receives KRW 13 Billion In Strategic Investment From The Global Pharmaceutical Industry Development Fund
SEOUL, KOREA, June 25, 2014 - CrystalGenomics, Inc., a late clinical stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing novel drugs for therapeutic areas of unmet medical needs, has just announced that it has received KRW 13 billion (USD 12.8 Million) from the Global Pharmaceutical Industry Development Fund No. 1 (the Fund), a KRW 100 billion fund established by the Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) of Korea to promote globalization of the Korean pharmaceutical industry.
According to a representative from InterVest, a Korea-based VC firm that manages the Fund, CrystalGenomics’ potential had already been recognized by the Korean government in the summer of 2012 when it became one of the 43 companies to be designated as the Korea Innovative Pharmaceutical Company (KIPC) and only 2 years later, CrystalGenomics is now on track to become the first bio venture company from Korea to obtain a new drug approval, which is unprecedented in the industry.
In addition to the successful submission of its first NDA with polmacoxib last month, CrystalGenomics became the first company in the world to obtain the human proof-of-concept for its first-in-class antibiotic for multi-drug resistant infections when it completed the phase 2a skin infection study in the US with a positive efficacy outcome of 100% clinical cure rate. Also, CrystalGenomics has recently obtained a phase 2 study protocol approval from the MFDS for its molecular targeted anti-cancer therapeutic.
InterVest believes that CrystalGenomics has a tremendous growth potential as its structure-based novel drug discovery platform will continue to produce innovative drug candidates which will be developed globally through combination of local development in Korea and partnerships with international pharmaceutical companies.
Among CrystalGenomics’ novel drug candidates, polmacoxib has received the most attention as it is anticipated that polmacoxib will obtain approval by end of this year and be launched in 2015 following its registration on the National Health Insurance for reimbursement.
InterVest anticipates that this investment will facilitate CrystalGenomics’ growth in becoming a global biopharmaceutical company by enabling it to penetrate the global markets with its novel drug candidates including polmacoxib.
Since the second half of 2013, InterVest, the GP of the Fund, has been conducting in-depth analyses of the Korean biotech/pharma companies in regards to their R&D capabilities, mid/long term strategies and visions.
According to InterVest, the decision to invest into CrystalGenomics has been based on its R&D capabilities for discovery and development of novel drugs and also, the competiveness of the existing drug candidates in its R&D pipeline.
A representative from MOHW stated, “Our investment decision was primarily based on CrystalGenomics’ capability to develop novel drugs for the global market and also, its likelihood of becoming the first Korean bio venture to obtain a new drug approval, has been highly regarded.”
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