IN an effort to forge earlier and stronger ties to venture-backed biotechs, the new Merck Research Venture Fund illustrates the lure -- and the limitations -- of strategic pharma-VC relationships. Merck has endowed the MRVF with $250 million and the fund will make a series of investments in life science venture capital firms around the globe. Simultaneously it has also staked a second fund, the Global Health Innovation Fund, with an additional $250 million to invest in later-stage companies outside of the drug area.
By Chris Morrison
Competition for biotech's most eligible assets has never been stronger. As such, some pharmas are trying harder than ever to get in on the ground floor.
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