Biotech investments point to the future

A great way to better understand innovation in healthcare and life sciences is to follow the money. Where are the venture capital deals? Where did top indications secure Series A funding? Who are the moves in these deals? We’ll focus on  2019 for data consistency; let’s get into it!

Where the top mind believe value lives (investments):

  1. Biopharma $15.6B
  2. Health tech $7.5B
  3. Dx Tools (medical diagnostics), which combine next-generation sequencing and artificial intelligence and computational resources – $4.4B
  4. Medical Devices $4.9B

What are the top indications to be funded?

  1. Oncology
  2. Platform
  3. Neurology
  4. Orphan/rare disease
  5. Anti-infective: to prevent or treat infections; they include antibacterials, antivirals, antifungals, and antiparasitic medications

In biopharma, who’s the most active (U.S. and Europe, 2018-2019)?

  • Alexandria, 42 deals
  • G.V. Corporate, 17 deals
  • Novartis, 16 deals
  • Pfizer, 13 deals
  • J&J, 12 deals
  • AbbVie, 9 deals
  • Merck, 7 deals

Which indication areas had the highest valuations?

  1. Cardiovascular
  2. Orthopedic
  3. Imaging
  4. Neurology
  5. Ophthalmology

Who’s the most active corporate healthcare investor?

  • BlueCross BlueShield
  • Alphabet
  • Echo
  • Philips
  • Merck
  • Tempus

We also saw a lot of movement in Series A deals. I enjoy looking at these acquisitions and takeovers targets to understand better how these innovative companies fit view themselves in the bigger picture. Where are they investing, and likewise, where are they divesting? Here are several of the movers the caught my eye.

  • AlizePharama, France, $82M in funding, specializing in the development of innovative biopharmaceutical drugs, proteins, and peptides, for the treatment of metabolic diseases and cancer
  • Anthos Therapeutics, Cambridge, MA, stage II trials for some innovative therapies for high-risk cardiovascular patients
  • ArsenalBio, France, cell therapy, picked up $85M in round 1. Interestingly, even the University of California is a named investor in their Series A funding round.
  • Elevatebio, Mass, Cell and gene therapy, two years old and just raised $170M. They focus on the development and manufacturing of a specific type of therapeutic approach.
  • Talaris therapeutics, Louisville, KY and Boston, MA, IN 2019 they picked up $100M, then another $115M in Oct of 2020, crossing into phase III trials for crossed the Phase III with its lead drug, FCR001 –to prevent rejection of the donated organ by reducing infections
  • Passagebio, Philadelphia, PA, focusing on genetic medicines for rare monogenic central nervous system disorders. They picked up more than $200M in 2019 and recently went IPO, now with a market cap of $1.15B.
  • Mirum Pharmaceuticals, Foster City, CA, to developing drugs for rare liver diseases. Founded in 2018, now listed on Nasdaq with 604M in market cap.
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Peter is a technology executive with over 20 years of experience, dedicated to driving innovation, digital transformation, leadership, and data in business. He helps organizations connect strategy to execution to maximize company performance. He has been recognized for Digital Innovation by CIO 100, MIT Sloan, Computerworld, and the Project Management Institute. As Managing Director at OROCA Innovations, Peter leads the CXO advisory services practice, driving digital strategies. Peter was honored as an MIT Sloan CIO Leadership Award Finalist in 2015 and is a regular contributor to CIO.com on innovation. Peter has led businesses through complex changes, including the adoption of data-first approaches for portfolio management, lean six sigma for operational excellence, departmental transformations, process improvements, maximizing team performance, designing new IT operating models, digitizing platforms, leading large-scale mission-critical technology deployments, product management, agile methodologies, and building high-performance teams. As Chief Information Officer, Peter was responsible for Connecticut’s Health Insurance Exchange’s (HIX) industry-leading digital platform transforming consumerism and retail-oriented services for the health insurance industry. Peter championed the Connecticut marketplace digital implementation with a transformational cloud-based SaaS platform and mobile application recognized as a 2014 PMI Project of the Year Award finalist, CIO 100, and awards for best digital services, API, and platform. He also received a lifetime achievement award for leadership and digital transformation, honored as a 2016 Computerworld Premier 100 IT Leader. Peter is the author of Learning Intelligence: Expand Thinking. Absorb Alternative. Unlock Possibilities (2017), which Marshall Goldsmith, author of the New York Times No. 1 bestseller Triggers, calls "a must-read for any leader wanting to compete in the innovation-powered landscape of today." Peter also authored The Power of Blockchain for Healthcare: How Blockchain Will Ignite The Future of Healthcare (2017), the first book to explore the vast opportunities for blockchain to transform the patient experience. Peter has a B.S. in C.I.S from Bentley University and an MBA from Quinnipiac University, where he graduated Summa Cum Laude. He earned his PMP® in 2001 and is a certified Six Sigma Master Black Belt, Masters in Business Relationship Management (MBRM) and Certified Scrum Master. As a Commercial Rated Aviation Pilot and Master Scuba Diver, Peter understands first hand, how to anticipate change and lead boldly.