^{Image courtesy of LinkedIn of Joel Krikston as managing director of venture investment at MGHIF.}

The venture capital unit of US pharmaceutical company MSD plans to spend $38m in Europe and Asia within the next three-years. It is also looking to increase its presence by launching two hubs to help them engage local entrepreneurs.

MSD, also known as Merck, in the US and Canada has focused most of its startup investments on the US. Only a few investments have been made in Europe, including vaccine developers Baseimmune, and Evaxion Biotech based in the UK and Denmark, respectively.

The MSD Global Health Innovation Fund team will open Idea Studios in Singapore and Berlin to form partnerships with entrepreneurs working in these regions on innovative healthcare offerings. The areas of focus include cancer therapies and vaccination access, disease diagnosis, patient monitoring, and clinical trial recruitment.

Joel Krikston, managing director of MGHIF’s venture investments, said: “We are excited about building on MGHIF’s track record of investment in growth to collaborate with our colleagues from the Asia-Pacific region and European regions through the MSD Idea Studio.”

“We aim at fueling innovative solutions through strategic investment that will ultimately allow better access to medicines, vaccines and patients.”

MGHIF, which was founded in 2010, now invests from its $600m Evergreen Fund. It has made more than 60 investment in early-stage and growth-stage companies. Bill Taranto Bill Taranto is the president and general partner at MGHIF in New Jersey.