Table 1 Bioventures Investment Summary
From: Venture capital on a shoestring: Bioventures’ pioneering life sciences fund in South Africa
Investee | Summary | Return |
|---|---|---|
Shimoda Biotech | One drug licensed and on market; 10 in various stages of development and trials; mostly enhanced generics. Company sold to Abraxis Biotech in 2008. | 2.5x |
Amandla Water Systems | Waste water bioremediation technology worked, but business model failed from long infrastructure tendering cycles and reliance on large water companies. | 0x |
Disa Vascular | Develops and produces stents for cardiac and other arteries, to keep previously blocked arteries open. | 3x, not yet exited. |
Synexa Life Sciences | Proprietary bioprocessing technology for production of natural compounds and recombinant proteins. | 2.5x, not yet exited. |
Electric Genetics | Bioinformatics spin-out from University of the Western Cape. Sector as a whole did poorly. | 0x |
Mbuyu Biotech | Joint venture with Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, to commercialize the Council's bio-processing technologies. | 1x |
PlatCo Technologies | Jointly owned with Shimoda Biotech, set up to explore the potential for novel platinum based anti-cancer compounds. Sold to Abraxis in 2008. | 7x |
Natural Carotenoids SA | Focuses on production and extraction of carotenoids from algae, for food, cosmetics, pharma industries. | 1.5x, not yet exited. |