Foundations operating Korea's top five general hospitals have continued investing in biotech venture companies, with Samsung Life Public Welfare Foundation's investment stake reaching nine times its principal, according to industry data.
The surge is attributed to rising corporate valuations of early-stage investees such as AimedBio (0009K0), in which Samsung Life Public Welfare Foundation invested, following their stock market debuts.
According to industry sources on Monday, foundations operating Korea's five major tertiary general hospitals have invested approximately 26.8 billion won ($19.8 million) in biotech venture companies over the past seven years since 2018. Asan Social Welfare Foundation (Seoul Asan Medical Center) invested the largest amount at 15.5 billion won, followed by Samsung Life Public Welfare Foundation (Samsung Medical Center) at 10.3 billion won and Yonsei University (Severance Hospital) at 2.7 billion won. Catholic Institute (Seoul St. Mary's Hospital) and Seoul National University Hospital were found to have made no direct equity investments.
Among the foundations operating Korea's top five tertiary general hospitals, Samsung Life Public Welfare Foundation has delivered the most visible investment results.
Samsung Life Public Welfare Foundation began its biotech venture investments in earnest in 2018, investing a combined 200 million won in ENCell (456070) and Geninus (389030). Over the following six years, it invested in approximately 16 companies, three of which — Geninus, ENCell, and AimedBio, all founded by professors — have since gone public. Geninus was founded by Park Woong-yang, director of the Samsung Genome Institute; ENCell by Jang Jong-wook, a professor at Samsung Medical Center; and AimedBio by Nam Do-hyun, a neurosurgery specialist at Samsung Medical Center.
Samsung Life Public Welfare Foundation's principal investment in biotech ventures since 2018 totals approximately 10.3 billion won. Looking at listed companies alone, it invested 4.2 billion won in ENCell, 3.2 billion won in AimedBio, and 1.3 billion won in Geninus. Based on the closing price on the 7th of this month, the value of its holdings in these companies has grown to approximately 95.6 billion won, roughly nine times the principal investment. The rise in the corporate value of AimedBio, which listed late last year, had the greatest impact on investment performance. AimedBio's share price has climbed more than fourfold from its IPO price since listing, bringing its market capitalization to around 3 trillion won. Samsung Life Public Welfare Foundation holds a 3.11% stake in AimedBio, with the book value of this stake alone reaching 88.3 billion won.
Asan Social Welfare Foundation, which operates Seoul Asan Medical Center, has the largest investment scale at 15.5 billion won, but investment returns such as appreciation in stake value have yet to materialize. This is because the foundation has placed greater weight on supporting the bio new business of HD Hyundai, whose largest shareholder is Chung Mong-joon, chairman of Asan Social Welfare Foundation, rather than on direct investments in professor-founded companies aiming for market listings. In 2024, Asan Social Welfare Foundation invested 5 billion won in AMC Science, a drug development subsidiary of HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering, and in 2021 invested 1.6 billion won in MediPlus Solution, a healthcare company acquired by Hyundai Future Partners, a venture capital firm in the HD Hyundai Group. Both are unlisted companies.
Yonsei University, which operates Severance Hospital, and its industry-academia cooperation foundation have invested relatively small amounts compared with Samsung Life Public Welfare Foundation and Asan Social Welfare Foundation. While Yonsei University and its affiliated industry-academia cooperation foundation have secured stakes in biotech ventures, the actual capital injected since 2018 amounted to just 2.7 billion won. This is because Yonsei University acquires venture company stakes through free grants rather than by participating in rights offerings. A free grant refers to a structure in which a university or foundation receives a portion of shares for free in lieu of technology fees during the professor startup process. "Since professor startups are based on research achievements by professors affiliated with hospitals, foundations often receive free grants in exchange for granting exclusive licenses for jointly developed technologies," an official in the medical industry said.
One representative company in which a stake was secured through a free grant is Daan Biotherapeutics, in which Yonsei University's industry-academia cooperation foundation holds a 1.44% stake. Daan Biotherapeutics is a drug development company founded by Cho Byoung-chul, a professor of oncology at Yonsei Cancer Center. Cho is regarded as a key figure in the development research for Yuhan Corporation's non-small cell lung cancer drug "Leclaza."
Meanwhile, the foundations of Seoul St. Mary's Hospital and Seoul National University Hospital have no history of acquiring biotech venture stakes through direct investment since 2018. Seoul St. Mary's Hospital supports ventures with equipment and research through its "Core Facility Center," while Seoul National University Hospital supports professor startups through "SNUH Venture," which handles startup accelerating.
