Biotech Funding: Where the Money's At

The $752 million worth of new funds raised by leading European biotechnology VCs over the past three months suggests that Europe's private biotech market is picking up. But these funds won't simply land in companies' laps. Europe's biotech managers, many of whom have raised funds only during boom times, will have to satisfy increasingly stringent criteria to secure their slice of the pie. Yet although late-stage products and critical mass still top some investors' wish lists, selected platform and early-stage groups capable of rapidly advancing a broad range of compounds into the clinic have also found funding.