Is investment sentiment in bio and medical venture capital recovering? … Investment volume increased by 85% in the first half of this year

(Health Korea News / Chang-Yong Lee) New investment by venture capital (VC) in the domestic bio and medical fields in the first half of this year increased by 85% compared to the same period last year, raising expectations that investment sentiment may be turning to recovery.

The National Biotechnology Research Center reported on the 22nd, ‘Status of Domestic VC Investment and Specially Listed Companies in the First Half of 2024’, that the amount of VC investment in the biomedical field in the first half of this year was KRW 677.2 billion, up 85% compared to the same period last year (KRW 366.5 billion in the first half of 2023). It was stated that there was a % increase.

It is the first time in three years since 2021 that new VC investment in the bio and medical fields has turned to an upward trend. The scale of new VC investment in the domestic bio and medical field continued to decline after recording 1.677 trillion won in 2021. The investment amount in 2022 decreased by 34% compared to 2021 to KRW 1.1058 trillion, and the following year (2023) decreased by 20% to KRW 884.4 billion.

However, investment in the first half of this year increased by 85% compared to the same period last year, showing signs of revival. It is also noteworthy that 77% (677.2 billion won) of the total amount invested last year (884.4 billion won) was invested in the first half of this year. If this trend continues, the total investment amount this year is expected to well exceed 1 trillion won.

However, considering that the decline in investment sentiment was selected as the biggest issue in the bio industry this year in the opinion collection conducted by the Korea Biotechnology Industry Association on the 14th, it is still unclear whether this trend of investment growth will continue. (See related article below)

Meanwhile, the bio and medical fields were found to account for a high proportion among special listing fields.

There are 41 new specially listed companies in 2023, of which 13 (31.7%) were bio- and medical-related companies. As of the end of September this year, there were 28 specially listed companies, of which 8 (28.6%) were related to the bio and medical fields. (see chart below)

Companies listed last year included new drug development companies based on new modalities such as anti-cancer immune cell therapy and fusion proteins, as well as companies related to medical AI technology and diagnostic and analysis devices.

This year, for the first time in the bio and medical fields, a company developing medical robots (P&S Mechanics) achieved a special technology listing.

The technology special listing is a system that helps companies that have high future growth potential but do not meet the listing requirements due to low current sales to be listed on KOSDAQ. It was introduced in 2005. If the innovativeness of the technology or the growth potential of the company is recognized, application for listing preliminary review is permitted with only minimum financial requirements.

Since the introduction of the system, as of July last year, a total of 150 companies (market capitalization KRW 26.3 trillion) have entered KOSDAQ as a technology special exception.

(Current status of companies in the bio and medical fields listed under special technology listings in 2023 and 2024, table: provided by the National Biotechnology Research Policy Center)

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