Biotechnology investment has grown 66 percent over Q1 2014
SAN FRANCISCO – (May 28, 2015) – According to the MoneyTree Life Sciences Report Quarterly Q1 2015 from PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) LLP and the National Venture Capital Association, the “Big 3” – the San Francisco Bay Area, Boston, and San Diego — received the most life sciences venture capital dollars during the first quarter of 2015 ahead of all other regions in the United States.
The leader, the Bay Area, received $664 million, with $574 million to biotechnology and $90 million going to medical devices. The Bay Area closed 44 deals during the first quarter of 2015, with an average size of $15.1 million. For the first quarter of 2015, the largest life sciences deal was a $100 million early-stage round for Boston-based Voyager Therapeutics.
“Biotech had its third strongest quarter in MoneyTree history. And it managed that without relying on a string of megadeals to swell the figure,” says Greg Vlahos, life sciences partner at PwC. “The total number of deals for the quarter hit 124, a 14% bump over Q4 in 2014, with a surge of cash for early-stage deals. It’s a really positive quarter for biotech overall.”
The report states that six subsegments saw increased investments during the first quarter of 2015 when compared to 2014:
- Pharmaceutical, +577% to $212 million
- Biotech research, +521% to $73 million
- Biotech animal, +511% to $35 million
- Biotech equipment, +497% to $11 million
- Biotech human, +44% to $1,353 million
- Biosensors, +28% to $20 million
“These first-quarter figures put 2015 life sciences investments on track to come in near the low end of the typical range for annual investments,” says Vlahos, “but if we continue to see med tech make it out onto the public markets, we will continue to see strengthening venture investment going forward.”
Links:
- Report:
https://www.pwc.com/en_US/us/health-industries/publications/assets/pwc-biotech-trending-high-q1-2015.pdf - Photo gallery of the biggest venture deals in Massachusetts: https://www.bizjournals.com/boston/blog/startups/2015/05/these-are-some-of-the-biggest-venture-deals-in.html#g1
- For more information about the data/report: https://www.pwc.com/us/lifesciencesmoneytree
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