EIF to invest in Merlin Biosciences

The European Investment Fund (EIF) has agreed to invest €25m (US$24m) in Merlin Biosciences III, a pan European scheme investing in infant companies that develop human healthcare products or allied technologies. Merlin Biosciences III will focus exclusively on biosciences, with particular attention to post-genomics, cell therapy, computational approaches to biosciences, bionics, nanotechnology and system biology.

It will work across the EU, and although it will invest principally in the UK, Germany, France and Scandinavian countries, it will also 'allocate a significant amount' to southern Europe, including Spain and Italy.

The EIF is the EU's main venture capital institution and is 60% owned by the European Investment Bank. The Merlin fund, said an EIF memorandum, followed the EU's priorities under the recently agreed Sixth Framework Programme for research, which placed emphasis on biotechnology. It already commands €90m ($88m), most of which comes from outside the EIF.