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The agreement was concluded after EIF - the EU body for investment insmall and medium-sized enterprises -carried out a thorough due diligence ofKarolinska Development's strategy, competences and processes. Investmentswill be made over a four year period and the fund will be used alongsideKarolinska Development's own investments in new projects, as well as forfollow on investments in portfolio companies in the latter stages of clinicaldevelopment.
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EIF's Chief Executive, Richard Pelly summarised, "Not only is this alandmark transaction representing the largest single investment ever made byEIF into a Swedish fund, but it also demonstrates EIF's firm commitment tosupport Technology Transfer initiatives across Europe where a funding gap forinnovative SMEs has been identified. This investment will help innovationsfrom research organisations to reach the marketplace more quickly and willhopefully allow spin-out companies to reach their full potential working inconjunction with the Karolinska Development team."
Since 2003, Karolinska Development has built up a portfolio of 45companies, making it one of the largest portfolios of life science companiesin Europe. The company forms a key part of Karolinska Institutet's InnovationSystem, giving it access to world-class life science innovations fromKarolinska Institutet as well as many other leading universities throughoutthe Nordic region.
Conny Bogentoft, CEO of Karolinska Development, said, "We are delightedto be able to establish this new co-investment fund with EIF. The fact thatsuch an important EU body has agreed to make an investment of this magnitudeis an enormous vote of confidence in ourbusiness model and the strength ofour portfolio. This fund, together with the new share issue, due to takeplace before the end of the year, will put Karolinska Development inexcellent financial shape for the important opportunities ahead. We are nowworking hard to ensure successful commercial exits for several of our moremature projects."
About Karolinska Development
Karolinska Development manages one of the largest portfolios of lifescience companies in Europe. Using a unique, highly cost efficient businessmodel, the management team guides the commercialization of world-class lifescience innovations, helping to shape the next-generation pharma industry.Since 2003, Karolinska Development has built a portfolio of some 40companies; among the company's projects 12 compounds are undergoing clinicaltrials. The portfolio also includes a total of 19 potential first in classproducts.
http://www.karolinskadevelopment.com
About The European Investment Fund
The European Investment Fund is the European body specialised in smalland medium-sized enterprise (SME) risk financing. The EIF is part of theEuropean Investment Bank (EIB) group and has a unique combination of publicand private shareholders. It is owned by the EIB, the European Union -through the European Commission and 30 public and private financialinstitutions from 17 countries.
The EIF supports high-growth innovative SMEs by means of equity (venturecapital and private equity) and guarantee instruments through a variety offinancial institutions, using either its own funds, or those availablethrough mandates given by the EIB, the EU, Member States or other thirdparties. Complementing the EIB's product offering, the EIF has a crucial roleto play throughout the value chain of enterprise creation, from the earlystages of intellectual property development and licensing to mid and laterstage SMEs. The EIF fosters EU objectives in support of innovation, researchand regional development, entrepreneurship, growth and job creation. For thisinvestment, the EIF used funds from the European Investment Bank, theEuropean Commission (Technology Transfer Pilot) as well as its own resources.The commercialisation of European research and Technology Transferspecifically is regarded as a key part of the Lisbon Strategyhttp://www.eif.org For more information, please contact: Conny Bogentoft, CEO, Karolinska Development AB Phone: +46-70 6886143 / e-mail: [email protected] Piyush Unalkat, Investment Manager, European Investment Fund Phone: +34-91-436-0863, e-mail: [email protected]
SOURCE Karolinska Development AB
