Solidus, Now Under JW, Accelerates Biotech Investments... Expanding New Drug Discovery Network

Solidus Extends New Investments Including Aston Science
Diversifying Technology Portfolios with Small Molecules, Antibodies, and TPD
Internalizing Investment and Sourcing Capabilities through Specialized VC Acquisition

Solidus Investment, a biotech-focused venture capital (VC) firm acquired by JW Holdings, has been deploying capital to a series of biotech companies with diverse technological capabilities. The strategy is to leverage the investment and validation expertise of a specialized VC to discover promising biotechnology firms, and to establish an open innovation framework that can later link to joint research or technology in-licensing with JW Pharmaceutical.

According to TheVC, a startup investment data platform, and related industry sources on September 1, Solidus has continued to invest in biotech companies with a range of technologies—including small molecule drug development, antibody therapeutics, and targeted protein degradation (TPD)—since becoming part of the JW Group in March this year. As of the end of July, Solidus's cumulative investment for the year stands at 13.8 billion won, according to the Venture Investment Comprehensive Portal (DIVA) run by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups.

At the end of last month, Solidus participated as a new investor in Aston Science’s Series D funding round, which totaled 39.6 billion won. Aston Science is a biotech company developing therapeutic cancer vaccines that stimulate the immune system of cancer patients to attack malignant cells. Its lead pipeline, AST-301, is a plasmid DNA-based cancer vaccine targeting HER2, and is currently in Phase 2 clinical trials for gastric cancer patients in the United States, Australia, and Taiwan. Key Phase 2 results are scheduled to be announced in October.

In April, Solidus invested in Novorex, a company developing small molecule drugs using artificial intelligence (AI) and fragment-based drug discovery (FBDD) technology. In June, Solidus committed 1.5 billion won to the Series B round of FNCT Biotech, which develops antibody-based fibrosis therapeutics. That same month, Solidus also participated in Series B financing for COPS Bio, a developer of molecular glue degraders (MGD) and covalent inhibitors. Molecular glue degraders are a form of TPD technology that leverages intracellular protein degradation systems to eliminate disease-causing target proteins. Solidus also made an additional investment in People & Technology, a company creating smart hospital and real-time patient monitoring solutions.

In March, JW Holdings acquired 100% of the shares of Solidus for 30.6 billion won. Until then, the JW Group had collaborated with external biotech firms mainly through joint research, but by making the specialist VC a subsidiary, the group expanded its open innovation initiative to include capital investment.

The aim is also to internalize biotech sourcing and technology validation capabilities within the group. Solidus has previous experience investing in domestic biotech firms such as Alteogen, Orum Therapeutics, and OliX. The plan is to combine Solidus's professional investment expertise with JW Pharmaceutical's in-house expertise in basic research, clinical development, and regulatory affairs for future joint research or technology acquisitions.

Since joining the JW Group, Solidus has not established any new funds and is instead investing through existing funds. Of the seven investment partnerships it manages, investment has been completed and entered the recovery stage in six. New investments are being made using unallocated capital in funds with remaining investment periods.

After JW Holdings was exempted from the holding company status under the Fair Trade Act last June, it is expected that conditions for new fund formation will become more flexible. Corporate venture capital (CVC) units belonging to conventional holding companies were previously allowed to source only up to 40% of fund capital from outside sources, requiring more than 60% of funds to come from in-house or affiliate capital. Now that JW Holdings is no longer subject to the holding company regulations, it has more options to form funds utilizing external institutional investors (LPs).

An industry source stated, "It appears they are in a phase of internal system reorganization and stabilization," adding, "It will take time for specific investment strategies to become apparent."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.