Better Living Through Chemistry: Biopharma Investors Weigh In

Article preview from Start-Up - September, 2013

In our third annual Life Science VC Survey, those who invest in biopharmaceuticals are feeling good about the IPO window and the helping hand from corporate VCs, and for the third year in a row, they say oncology and rare disease are top investment targets.

Better Living Through Chemistry: Biopharma Investors Weigh In

Article preview from Start-Up - September, 2013

IPOs, corporate venture, a supply of good companies: In our third annual Life Science VC Survey, those who invest in biopharmaceuticals are feeling good about many things. For the third year in a row, they say oncology and rare disease are top investment targets. And for the third straight year, their skepticism about asset-based financing has grown, even as new twists on the model emerge at a brisk clip.

Next on the list of reasons is corporate venture interest (71%), as the investment groups within pharmas and other large firms show more eagerness to join syndicates and build new companies. Then comes a good supply of innovative companies (65%).

Among the generalists who counted themselves optimistic, the factors line up with some differences from the specialists. For example, generalists rank limited partners at the bottom of the barrel, a clear sign of the friction these days between VCs and the people who fund them. It’s also the second straight year our respondents’ view of FDA has improved, as the agency continues to approve new drugs at a brisk clip and works out the kinks in its breakthrough therapy designation for products that aim to treat serious or life-threatening conditions.  

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