Fosun Partners with 11 Global Top-Tier VC Funds to Advance Deep Innovation in the Health Industry

From October 22 to 23, 2019, at the “2019 Fosun Global Health VC Investor Summit” hosted by Fosun Health, Fosun joined forces with 11 top-tier venture capital funds from the United States, the United Kingdom, Israel, and other countries to establish the “Global Healthcare Innovation Investment Alliance.”

The VC funds attending this conference and joining the alliance hail from various countries and regions around the world, ranging from the San Francisco Bay Area in the United States to London and Shanghai. Backed by world-class institutions such as the University of Oxford, the University of Cambridge, the University of California, Berkeley, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), they leverage an integrated model of industry, academia, and research to occupy the forefront of health and medical technology innovation.

In the San Francisco Bay Area, the Berkeley Catalyst Fund (BCF) maintains close collaborations with the University of California, Berkeley, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, the University of California, San Francisco, as well as related incubators, accelerators, and UC alumni entrepreneurs. Similarly, as the preferred venture capital firm of the University of Cambridge, Cambridge Innovation Capital (CIC) leverages its advisory panel of experts to engage with leading scholars and entrepreneurs within the Cambridge ecosystem. CIC invests in spin-offs from the University of Cambridge, focusing on early-stage life sciences and deep tech ventures, and supports their growth until maturity. Additionally, Oxford Science Innovation (OSI), an early-stage venture capital firm established in partnership with the University of Oxford, has raised over £600 million. With an investment reach extending from Silicon Valley to Shanghai, OSI provides support to portfolio companies across various stages, including transition and seed rounds.

Guo Guangchang, Chairman of Fosun International, stated that as a science-and-technology-innovation-driven global enterprise, Fosun has joined forces with leading global venture capital (VC) funds to establish the “Global Health VC Fund Investment Alliance.” This initiative aims to further promote collaboration and exchange among the pharmaceutical and healthcare industries, governments, academic institutions, practitioners, and VC investors, thereby fostering the healthy and orderly development of the industry. It represents a high-level effort in innovative openness and resource sharing.

Venture capital (VC) investment serves as a bellwether for industrial trends and technological innovation. Research teams with strong innovative capabilities at the forefront of science have always been highly favored by VCs, and each successful investment in innovation has further propelled industrial development.

Venture capital firms in the broader healthcare sector have focused on innovative drugs, advanced medical devices, pathological diagnostics, medical IT, and health big data, achieving remarkable results. ReNeuron, invested by Arix Bioscience, was founded in 1997 and is a global leader in cell therapy. Aetion, backed by Flare Capital, is dedicated to real-world medical big data research, helping users make appropriate healthcare decisions by collecting and analyzing large volumes of real-world data. Pontifax invests in revolutionary, cutting-edge life science technologies across all stages of application. Its portfolio includes nearly 80 companies, such as those developing CAR-T therapies, which are continuously creating innovative solutions to address unmet needs in the life sciences sector.

Fosun has formed strategic alliances with leading overseas venture capital (VC) funds to drive innovation in China’s healthcare industry. In Shanghai, an integrated ecosystem combining industry, academia, and research has taken shape, encompassing government research institutions, clinical trials in pharmaceuticals, basic university research, and corporate product development. As a China-rooted, globally oriented enterprise, Fosun has established deep industrial presence in more than 30 countries and regions and maintains close collaborations with numerous VC funds worldwide.Chengdu Haichuang Pharmaceutical, a national high-tech enterprise focused on the R&D and industrialization of innovative drugs, was initiated and established with Tongde Capital as its cornerstone investor, alongside Fosun Pharma and South Korea’s SK Group. Specializing in oncology therapeutics, Haichuang possesses globally leading deuterium substitution and PROTAC technology platforms, as well as advanced drug formulation technologies.Fosun Lingzhi, a biomedical sci-tech innovation incubation platform co-founded by Fosun Pharma and Professor Xu Tian, Vice President of Westlake University, will scout for cutting-edge innovative projects globally. It aims to identify more personalized, intelligent, and grassroots-accessible hard-tech products. For instance, through collaborations with innovative R&D companies such as Butterfly Network, Hyperfine Research, and Quantum-Si within the Fosun and Fosun Pharma ecosystem, it seeks to advance the mission of “bringing global innovative technologies to serve Chinese patients.”Meanwhile, Xing Weilai Capital is Fosun’s VC team focusing on frontier technologies in big health. Managing nearly RMB 1 billion in assets, it has invested in over 20 projects spanning life sciences, digital healthcare, innovative medical devices, and emerging technologies, including Yaoshibang, MaiTao Parent-Child, and Woniu Sleep.

In recent years, Fosun has adhered to an internationalization strategy, driving in-depth industrial development by integrating global leading resources. For instance, it introduced CAR-T cell immunotherapy products developed by Kite Pharma in the United States, benefiting more cancer patients in China. Commenting on the significance of Fosun hosting summits and establishing alliances, Guo Guangchang, Chairman of Fosun International, stated, “We must actively embrace external opportunities, as internationalization brings value to Fosun’s growth. Although the current international environment is complex, we must recognize that there can be no growth without exchange, and no development without openness.”