This week has seen a continued upswing for biotech and other health industry companies in the U.S. (with two IPOs) and in Canada (with great VC news and the pending appointment of an administrator for the Ontario Emerging Technologies Fund):
In the U.S.
- Emdeon (NYSE: EM) IPO’d today, pricing at the top of its range ($15.50) and closing up about 10% on the day at $16.52 after touching as high as $18.24. Emdeon processed almost half of all U.S. electronic medical claims in 2008, according to the WSJ, meaning they’re poised for further growth on the wave of electronic medical record spending expected between now and 2011.
- Specialty pharma company Cumberland priced under its range yesterday, but has held its own in the first two days of trading (NASDAQ: CPIX). Check out Brian Orelli’s take on the offering.
- Biotech venture capital firm Domain Associates, which topped today’s list from FierceBiotech of the most active life science investors with 41 deals in the last year and a half, closed its eighth fund yesterday with $500M, and will focus on early stage therapeutics and devices. H/T @SternIR.
- Enobia Pharma, whose lead (Phase II) product is a human recombinant enzyme for hormone replacement in hypophosphatasia patients, raised $50 million in their third venture round this week. Remember the grim report on Canada’s VC numbers last week? Well, between this Enobia deal plus Allostera’s $17 million round in July, Canadian healthcare companies are on-track to match 2008 levels (no great shakes, but still better than other sectors were faring at the end of Q2).
- In other interesting news, investment firm LOM Bancorp and BioQuest Capital Corp., a biotechnology developer, announced a new joint venture this week. More to come on this one as we learn more about the goals, structure and funding, but this will be good for Canadian biotech.
- We also hear that the Ontario Emerging Technology Fund launch will really get moving with the engagement of a fund administrator, as the Province’s RFP process wraps up in the next couple of weeks.
In the pipeline
With personalized medicine seeing increasing validation as a clinical strategy, genomics technology will be key. News this week from Helicos Biosciences that an individual’s complete genome was sequenced in one month for just $50k in consumables is an important marker (har) on the road to regular full-genome scans as part of our medical toolkit.
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Monday Deal Review: August 17, 2009 « The Cross-Border Biotech Blog // August 17, 2009 at 7:07 am |
[...] 17, 2009 · Leave a Comment In addition to the highlights already noted — Enobia’s $50 million r0und, and the LOM – BioQuest joint venture — there was plenty of other Canadian deal activity this week. Check it [...]
Interview With Garrett Herman Yeilds More Detail on the LOM-BioQuest Joint Venture « The Cross-Border Biotech Blog // August 18, 2009 at 12:56 pm |
[...] 18, 2009 · Leave a Comment We have new details about the LOM-BioQuest joint venture that was announced last week. The WSJ article about the JV emphasized the goals of supporting good science and expanding the [...]
Is the IPO Window Open for Biotech and Pharma? Talecris and Anthera Aim to Find Out. « The Cross-Border Biotech Blog // September 16, 2009 at 11:10 pm |
[...] · Leave a Comment Biopharma IPOs come in pairs, apparently (a-pair-ently?). A month ago, Cumberland and Emdeon created something that looked like an IPO window and now, Talecris Biotherapeutics and Anthera Pharmaceuticals have filed to go [...]