Regeneron is getting into the venture investing game — Regeneron Ventures, that is.

The pharma company is serving as the exclusive limited partner for Regeneron Ventures, which was unveiled Monday morning.

The drugmaker is seeding the venture capital fund with $500 million over its first five years. 

Regeneron Ventures will also be independently managed by former company executives Jay S. Markowitz, MD, who most recently worked at ARCH Venture Partners as a senior partner, as well as Michael Aberman, MD, who previously served in leadership positions at XenImmune Therapeutics and Quentis Therapeutics.

In a press release, Regeneron Ventures reiterated that it will be independent of its namesake investor and underscored that its investment strategy will be guided by science, data and breakthrough innovation. Beyond healthcare and biopharmaceuticals, Regeneron Ventures will also explore opportunities in the health tech space.

“Understanding that the most groundbreaking, transformative approaches to preventing and treating disease may yet to be discovered, the fund will invest for the long-term, agnostic to therapeutic area, technology and stage of development,” Markowitz said in a statement.

Aberman added that Regeneron Ventures’ goal is to support the next generation of biotechs and utilize the lessons accrued at Regeneron over the years.

“Together, we will strive to identify and support groundbreaking advancements that push the boundaries of what’s possible in science and medicine,” he stated.

The debut of Regeneron Ventures comes at a pivotal moment for VC investing in biopharma, which slid last year as part of a wider market correction.

Of note, healthcare specialist private equity funds hit a peak in commitments last year, according to a recent report from PitchBook. Another analysis from the company also found that VC investments in the biopharma sector slid from $36.7 billion in 2022 to $29.9 billion last year.

However, even with that broader decline, healthcare and financial services companies took on the majority of venture funding in November, according to a Crunchbase report released in early December.

While interest in the future of AI has carried tech investments, early-stage funding of startups dropped 34% year-over-year in November, representing the larger pullback among venture investors.