Singapore raises biotech bet with $800M Verily stake

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As part of the deal, Temasek will nominate a director to Verily's operating board and collaborate with Verily to expand its programs outside of U.S.

Singapore state's investment arm Temasek Holdings is investing $800 million to take a minority stake in Verily Life Sciences, a U.S.-based healthcare research company under Google's holding company Alphabet.

Verily announced last week that it will partner with Temasek to advance its plans to commercialise healthcare solutions. The investment is expected to be completed in the second half of 2017.

As part of the deal, Temasek will nominate a director to Verily's operating board and collaborate with Verily to expand its programs outside of the United States. Verily CEO Andrew Conrad said in a statement that Temasek's networks and insights into markets in Asia "will provide valuable guidance as we look to ex-U.S. markets."

The agreement possibly indicates Verily’s plans to expand into China. After all, China represents Temasek’s largest country by underlying asset exposure after Singapore, making up 23% of its portfolio, comprising leading companies across industries including healthcare.

Founded in 1974, Temasek claims to have a net portfolio of $180 billion, predominantly across Singapore and Asia. Temasek has been increasing its focus on North American technology ventures, including healthcare technology. The state investor opened an office in New York in 2014, followed an office in San Francisco in late 2016.

Formerly known as Google Life Sciences, Verily was once part of Alphabet's stealth R&D division Google X, until it rebranded as a completely independent company in 2015. In September, Verily formed a $500 million joint venture with French drugmaker Sanofi with a goal of combatting diabetes.

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