The Cross-Border Biotech Blog

Biotechnology, Health and Business in Canada, the United States and Worldwide

Tag Archives: venture capital

Valuation and Other Biotech Mysteries – Part 8: The Current State of Healthcare Venture Capital

[Ed. This is the eighth part in Wayne's series. You can access the whole thing by clicking here. Please leave comments or questions on the blog and Wayne will address them in future posts in this series.] The world of healthcare VCs has changed dramatically in the two decades which I have spent in capital [...]

Stability at the Top: A Look at Top Biotech VC Deals from 2007-2010

FierceBiotech published the top 15 biotech VC deals of 2010 last week, measured by dollars invested. Since they noted an overall uptick in investments in 2010, it seemed like a worthwhile time to look back. Here’s what U.S. VC investment in biopharma and medical devices looked like from 2007 to 2010 (normalized to 2007 levels): Not [...]

State of the Biotech Industry — Heading into BioFinance

As the BioFinance conference in Toronto starts up today, I thought it would be worth looking at a few recent data points for the biotech industry: The Q1 Burrill data (via PharmPro) shows above-market gains for public biotechs (up 8% in Q1), $6.1 billion of pharma partnering deals were done, and total biotech VC investments [...]

Biotech Trends Update — Personalized Medicine: The Case for Diagnostics Focuses on Cost and Effectiveness

A report in FierceBiotech today distilled the views of three life science VCs on trends to watch in 2010.  Along with other worthwhile observations (and I’d encourage you to read the whole thing) was this bullet pointing out the value of personalized medicine in addressing comparative effectiveness concerns: “Interest in molecular diagnostics is heating up. It’s [...]

Biotech Trends in 2010: Top Three Reasons Why Biotech Companies Should Use Social Media

Tech startups use social media avidly [rabidly?], but biotech companies? Not so much.  Biotech companies should be blogging, tweeting and linking in like mad, though.  Here’s why: Your customers (pharma companies) do it.  More and more pharma companies are active in social media. Take a look at this article in the December issue of Life [...]

Q3 Is Looking Up for Biotech: Emdeon, Cumberland, Domain, LOM BioQuest, OETF

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 [...]

Q2 Venture Capital Numbers Do Not Look So Rosy in Canada

When Q2′s venture capital investment numbers came out for U.S. investment, healthcare/biotech investments were on top, beating out even IT investments in that period and generating some optimism. Dow Jones has released the worldwide Q2 venture capital numbers (H/T @startupcfo, and things do not look so rosy here in Canada: The overall number of VC [...]

Do the Q2 Venture Capital Numbers plus the HGS Success Indicate a Light at the End of the Tunnel for Biotech Funding?

Many of the articles and talks on biotech funding over the past year or so have lamented that public markets are closed to biotechs, and that the absence of a public exit, coupled with the preference for licensing over M&A by big pharma, would seriously dis-incentivize venture funding for biotech startups.  Two data points this [...]

New Tennessee State Tax Credits Incentivize Venture Fund Investments

The Tennessee legislature passed a bill earlier this month that indirectly creates $120 million of venture funding.  It gives tax deductions to insurance companies that invest in qualified entities called “TN Investcos” which are in turn instructed to make “focused investments of capital in early or seed stage companies with high growth potential.”  Firms that [...]

New Data Shows 70% of Canada’s Biotech Companies Have Under 12 Months’ Cash. BIOTECanada’s New Ask: Government Loans.

A Canwest story today highlights new BIOTECanada data showing 70% of survey respondents have under 1 year of cash, up from 50% in January.  FierceBiotech picked it up as well, guaranteeing a full dose of international attention.   Even though the remaining 30% of respondents likely include some with big recent successes — Bioniche, Allostera and Zymeworks – and some with creative [...]

Senate Action on Small Business Innovation This Week?

The Senate schedule for today does not include consideration of The Small Business Innovation and Research Act of 2009. Late last week there were rumors the House version of legislation, passed by the U.S. House of Representatives on July 8, would receive expedited consideration on the Senate floor as early as today, using the unanimous consent Senate measure. The [...]

SBIR Reauthorization Likely: Uncertain Improvements for VC-Backed Companies

The SBIR program in the U.S. looks to be heading toward reauthorization with increased funding amounts — up to $250,000 in Phase One (up from $100,000) and up to $2,000,000 in Phase Two (up from $750,000).  VC-backed companies are not eligible under the current program, but that should change.  The Senate version of the bill [...]

New Funding for BDC Says Venture Capital in Canada “Tastes Great!”; Kedorsky Says “Less Filling!”

Yesterday Tony Clement announced an additional $450 million in funding to BDC:* $100 million in credit guarantees, $260 million for follow-on investments in companies where BDC is already a direct investor, and $90 million to invest in venture funds.  The follow-on money and the LP money will be spent over 3 years. (On purpose. (Ha.)) All [...]

More New Canadian Tech VC Funding

The Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) is putting $75 million, allocated in the Federal 2008 budget, into the new Tandem Expansion Fund. The Fund expects a first close of $300 million this summer, and will invest in ”Canadian technology growth companies.” At the helm are Charles Sirois and Brent Belzberg.  More details about the team and [...]

What You Missed While You Were at BioFinance

A lot to catch up on over the last few days… A professor in Hong Kong says don’t relax just because flu cases outside of Mexico have been mild — more spread equals more chances for further mutation. You think Biden had a bad public speaking week?  Check this one out from the Environment Minister [...]

New Data in Canada: BIOTECanada-PwC 2009 Life Sciences Forecast

The BIOTECanada-PricewaterhouseCoopers 2009 Canadian Life Sciences Forecast was released today. The Forecast was produced from data gathered in October and November 2008, so is (unsurprisingly) a bit bleak, but there are a few bright spots to be found: Canadian companies are increasingly flexible about exit scenarios.  In the 2009 Forecast, 66% of firms looked to [...]

Canadian Life Sciences VCs Lead the Realization Parade

“Liquidity Shrivels Up For VCs in First Quarter” was the banner screaming across the wire services earlier this week. While true, what was lost in the subtext were a few important observations for Canadian VCs, particularly those focused on life sciences:

Essex Woodland Health Ventures’ New $900 million Bio Fund

Essex Woodlands Health Ventures closed on its Fund VIII today with $900 million to invest “across the spectrum of drug, device and service companies in North America, Europe and Asia.”  The In Vivo blog points out that this isn’t exactly new news, but it is still good news for companies that are now a big step [...]

New Merck Serono Biotechnology Ventures Fund

Merck KGaA, the Darmstadt-based company (not part of Merck & Co. Inc. of the U.S.),  is starting a biotechnology venture capital fund that will invest €40 million ($55 million) in emerging biotech companies during the next five years, with a focus on the core therapeutic areas of Neurodegenerative Diseases, Oncology, Autoimmune & Inflammatory Diseases, Endocrinology and Fertility, as well [...]

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