L’Oréal Bold invests in South Korean biotech company Olix Pharmaceuticals

By Alessandro Carrara | Published: 4-Jun-2026
Finance

The Suwon-headquartered biotech company raised KRW 110bn in the funding round, and will use this to advance its ongoing small interfering RNAi-based projects

L’Oréal’s corporate venture capital fund BOLD (Business Opportunities for L’Oréal Development) has invested in South Korean biotech company Olix Pharmaceuticals.

The developer of RNAi therapeutics, which are medicines that preemptively treat unwanted, disease-causing proteins, raised approximately KRW 110bn (US$71m) through a third-party allotment via newly issued common shares to strategic investors.

Olix Pharmaceuticals will use the funds to advance its ongoing Small Interfering RNAi-based (siRNA) projects in several therapeutic areas, including skin and hair-related projects.

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Weiss Asset Management, a US asset management firm, also participated in the funding round.

The company also expects the investment to strengthen its strategic partnership with L’Oréal, reinforcing its research foundation and accelerating development progress. 

Guive Balooch, Global Managing Director of Open Innovation and Augmented Beauty at L’Oréal, said: “We are excited to strengthen our scientific partnership with Olix Pharmaceuticals with an equity investment by BOLD.

“This strategic collaboration combines Olix’s world-class siRNA platform capabilities with L’Oréal’s century-long commitment to beauty innovation and expertise across biology, technology and formulation.

“We are convinced that together we will accelerate in creating the future of beauty for the benefit of consumers globally with new levels of performance backed by advanced biology and robust scientific proof.”

Olix Pharmaceuticals is headquartered in Suwon, South Korea, and was founded in 2010 by Dr Dong Ki Lee, who serves as CEO.

The business is researching and developing therapeutics for a broad range of diseases, based on its proprietary core drug development platform, Olix Advanced Small Interfering RNAi System (OASIS).

This is designed to enhance the high gene-silencing efficiency of RNAi technology.

Ki Lee, CEO of Olix Pharmaceuticals, added: “We are delighted to secure funding from BOLD and Weiss.

“Their support reflects strong confidence in our partnership and shared vision for innovation.

“The joint participation of a global strategic partner and a major investor reflects strong market confidence in the company’s technological competitiveness and future growth potential.”

Earlier this year, L’Oréal BOLD was among the businesses that invested in hybrid make-up and skin care brand Live Tinted.

The funding round, which was led by venture capital firm Curate Capital, saw investments from BOLD and from existing investors Unilever Ventures and Monogram Capital.

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