High appetite for biotech VC cited in new report

AusBiotech

A recent report published by US-based firm McKinsey & Company has cited that venture capital (VC) investment in the biotech industry has boomed over the past three years.

The report noted that “from 2019 to 2021, VC companies invested more than $52 billion in therapeutic-based biotech companies globally. Two-thirds of that went to start-ups with platform technologies.”

According to the report, venture capitalists still have a strong interest and appetite in biotech, especially in emerging biotechs that are developing new innovations and therapies, with the report noting, “with substantial VC investment fuelling innovative therapies that address unmet needs, the biotech industry is poised to make lasting changes that can overcome the challenges it faces.”

The report also identified six technologies are generating significant investment in the biotech industry:

  1. Cell therapy 2.0;
  2. Next-generation gene therapies;
  3. Precision medicine;
  4. Drug discovery enabled by machine learning;
  5. Strategies for validated but undruggable targets; and,
  6. New delivery methods.

AusBiotech’s recent strategic document Australian Biotechnology Sector Snapshot 2022 reveals data highlighting the support of investors into the Australian life sciences and biotech sectors. It notes, “annual data collected and reported by Bioshares shows that the capital raised by ASX-listed biotech companies in 2021 was a record high of $8 billion, of which $6.3 billion can be attributed to home-grown biotherapeutic multi-national giant CSL. This capital raising builds on the $1.7 billion in 2020, and the $1.08 billion raised the year prior.”

AusBiotech will present investment opportunities in-person at AusBioInvest 2022 in Perth, WA on 27 October 2022, with support from Host State Partners, Business Events Perth and the WA Government.