Anchor investor Shanghai Industrial Investment targets opportunities in biomedical sectors, including neurodegeneration and gene therapy.
The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) has announced a partnership with state-owned Shanghai Industrial Investment (SIIC) to create a new fund for Hong Kong’s biotechnology and life science sector.
In line with the local government’s vision to establish the city as an international health and medical innovation hub, the Hong Kong Biotechnology Fund (HKBF) is designed to support healthcare technology starts-ups from the university and the broader industry.
“Leveraging SIIC Capital integrated ecosystem spanning industry, academia and healthcare, the fund will drive strategic partnerships to advance Hong Kong’s global innovation hub vision and fuel transformative healthcare advancements,” Hong Kong Biotechnology Fund’s president Dr May Liang said in a release.
HKBF will become the first venture investment under the Redbird Innovation Fund, a HK$500m ($64m) venture initiative launched early last year to support AI, semiconductor and robotics startups led by the university’s staff, students and alumni.
The fund has a target size of HK$600m ($77.2m), with HKUST and SIIC as anchor investors.
Half of the fund will be dedicated to HKUST-associated ventures that could include spinouts founded by university members and ventures using the university’s technologies and facilities. SIIC Capital, the wholly owned fund management and investment platform of SIIC, will manage the new fund.
SIIC Capital has already identified a pipeline of diversified opportunities in biomedical sectors, including neurodegeneration, ophthalmic drug delivery system and gene therapy.
As SIIC Capital is seeking potential investors to boost the total fund size.
“This fund addresses the pressing challenge of an aging population by accelerating the commercialisation of biomedical breakthroughs, from AI-driven diagnostics to sustainable therapies. Together with partners like SIIC and Shanghai Healthcare Capital (SHC), we are building an ecosystem where research transcends laboratories to heal communities and transform lives,” HKUST’s acting president, professor Tam Kar-Yan said.
