Swedish GP buys Singapore biotech supplier, SBI exits

SBI Islamic Fund II, a shariah-compliant vehicle set up in partnership with the Brunei government and Islamic Development Bank, is selling a 12.9% interest. It initially invested in 2016 alongside Singapore’s Hanns Ventures and a technology-focused arm of Malaysian conglomerate Insas.

During the holding period, Sengenics evolved from a clinical services provider to the developer of proprietary diagnostics and drug response prediction technologies. The company is said to have commercial partnerships focused on developing diagnostic tests for autoimmune and cancer immunotherapy drugs with nine leading pharmaceuticals makers.

Sengenics’ core commercialized technology, Krex, is primarily used to help researchers stratify patients undergoing treatment with autoimmune or cancer drugs and help diagnose cancer, autoimmune or neurodegenerative conditions. Krex is also being used to support a high-throughput and fully quantitative COVID-19 test.

“Sengenics’ proprietary technology unlocks tremendous potential for researchers around the world to further their understanding of biology and disease,” Tommi Unkuri, a partner at Summa, said in a statement. “We look forward to supporting the Sengenics team in our shared ambition to invest to drive product development, global expansion and accelerated adoption.”

Summa invests globally across a range of sectors with a strong environmental, social, and governance lens and a view to aligning with the UN’s sustainable development goals. Themes of interest include resource efficiency, changing demographics, and tech-enabled business. Assets under management came to SEK14 billion ($1.6 billion) as of February 2019.

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• Topics
• Southeast Asia
• Buyouts
• Trade sale
• Healthcare
• Technology
• Singapore
• SBI Holdings
• Pharmaceuticals