As CEO Andrew Witty prepares to take the helm, GlaxoSmithKline is folding its SR One venture fund into another called GSK Venture Fund, with as much as $500 million to spend, according to IN VIVO Blog, a sister publication of "The Pink Sheet" DAILY.

The fund's president, Russell Greig - now president of GSK's pharmaceuticals division - will report to Witty. Greig previously was vice president of worldwide business development for the London-based firm.

GSK did not return phone calls and the fund has not officially been disclosed, but IN VIVO Blog ¹ noted that "Greig apparently has spent the past few months renewing or establishing contacts with East and West Coast venture capital firms, as part of the diligence required to start the new fund."

SR One has invested $550 million in 125 companies, but has not sought rights to the products or technologies of the benefiting companies.

The new fund will have "unprecedented access to GSK's top brass," the blog wrote, unlike SR One, which reported to the head of business development.

Though GSK has disclosed no plans for the new fund, the strategy might involve something like Novartis' option fund - recently expanded into Korea - which invests in early-stage platforms and keeps a no-cost option, typically to be exercised at clinical proof of concept (² Also see "Life Sciences Investors Talk Shop On Asia Opportunities - Singapore Conference" - Pink Sheet, 29 April, 2008.).

- Randall Osborne (r.osborne@elsevier.com)

GSK Sets Up $500 Million Venture Fund

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