Institut Mérieux has established Mérieux Développement
Tuesday 26 January 2010
Institut Mérieux has established Mérieux Développement, a healthcare investment company. This new subsidiary, 100% controlled by Institut Mérieux, will invest in companies whose scientific and technological projects will be at the root of significant medical breakthroughs.
Alexandre Mérieux, Chairman of Mérieux Développement, and François Valencony, Chief Executive Officer, answer our questions.
Why set up an investment company within a bioindustrial group?
Alexandre Mérieux /// Our scientific and technological environment is undergoing major changes at an ever-increasing pace. Innovation has always been at the heart of Institut Mérieux’s strategy. Our companies conduct their own research programs, but there are many other companies with innovative projects that, while important for public health, cannot be incorporated in bioMérieux, Silliker or Transgene's activities. With its strong entrepreneurial culture and a long history of being outward-looking, Institut Mérieux chose to set up Mérieux Développement, whose team will identify innovative companies and guide their medium and long-term development.
Setting up Mérieux Développement is a key step in Institut Mérieux's approach to innovation, which also recently saw the initiation of Research Grants.
How was Mérieux Développement set up?
AM /// Creating an investment company dedicated to the healthcare sector is a new step in Institut Mérieux's innovation strategy, for the first time assigning a dedicated team and significant financial resources to invest alongside entrepreneurs and other investors in the sector.
The new company is managed by François Valencony, whose experience and knowledge of our profession stems from his work at Transgene, in particular. His team includes Paul-Louis Santy, who has a long experience in venture capital, and will soon be joined by Valérie Calenda, a researcher who is working at Transgene until April 2010.
They will use their experience and their complementary skills to build up a high-level view of each investment opportunity, a key to success in this business.
What resources will be at your disposal?
François Valencony /// As well as the team presented by Alexandre, Mérieux Développement will work closely with the Medical and Scientific Affairs department at Institut Mérieux, headed by Christian Bréchot. This will put us in touch with a unique network of experts who can quickly provide an in-depth understanding of the challenges faced by companies under assessment.
We will naturally consult with an investment committee which will analyze and validate our choices in line with Mérieux Développement's investment strategy. This committee, chaired by Alexandre, includes leading industrial and financial figures renowned for their independence and their ability to guide senior managers and corporate projects over the long-term.
What are Mérieux Développement's investment priorities?
FV /// We intend to guide entrepreneurs and companies with high potential whose excellence in scientific and technological innovation and ability to succeed in their development strategy represent genuine opportunities in terms of investment and medical progress.
Our simple idea is that, in addition to investments by companies in which the group has a majority share, there is scope for growth and investment in diagnosis, services, nutrition and biotechnologies. These fields show ever greater convergence, in terms of the regulatory environment as well as on an industrial level. The Mérieux family's vision, centered on patient management, is also at the heart of Mérieux Développement's plans: theranostics, targeted therapies, immunotherapy, prevention through nutrition, patient services, new patient monitoring technologies, and so on. Investment in all these areas is likely to see strong growth in the next ten years, sustained by ever greater demand for personalized healthcare rather than management of a given pathology.
What will Mérieux Développement's investment policy be?
FV /// Mérieux Développement intends to invest up to 70 million euros over the next 5 years, initially in Europe, then extending to North America and Asia as opportunities and resources allow, with a particular focus on Canada, India and China, three countries which we know well.
We intend to be active shareholders in the companies we invest in, taking an advisory role and having a seat on the board of directors. The amount invested in a particular company will vary depending on the maturity of the company and its area of activity. In general, we expect to make 2 or 3 investments in new companies each year.
Mérieux Développement will accompany these companies, with the aim of passing on to new shareholders its stake in companies with high performance across the board, in R&D, sales and industrial aspects.
What differences can you bring to the world of venture capital?
AM /// The fact that we belong to a leading bioindustrial group is a distinguishing factor in its own right. We bring our knowledge of the industry, with its specific constraints. In particular, we can provide a medium and long term vision and commitment to the companies in which we invest. Mérieux Développement can also bring them the benefits of its international network and support from experts in a wide range of fields.
We place priority on an industrial and scientific vision in our investments, which is not in any way incompatible with expectations of return on investment.
FV /// The size of our organization ensures that we can be highly reactive, make decisions quickly, and manage our investments independently in the long-term. Another distinguishing factor is that we are organized as an investment company, freeing us from the constraints of typical financial funds whose investment decisions may be swayed by the need to achieve results at set dates.
But being different from venture capital companies does not mean that we are their opponents. Venture capital has financed numerous start-ups in our field, in the U.S.A., Europe and Asia, and is an integral part of the ecosystem. We believe that Mérieux Développement can contribute to the emergence of tomorrow’s medicine, sometimes even alongside certain venture capital companies if we share the same long-term investment vision.