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Finance Watch: 2019 Ended With Near-Record VC Financings, But Some Slowing Expected In 2020

 
• By Mandy Jackson

Private Company Edition: VC deals fell short of the record-breaking level seen in 2018 and financings may slow a bit more in 2020. Also, UPMC and Frazier close new VC funds, and Emendo raises $61m for gene-editing platform.

Finance Watch

Venture capital investment in biopharmaceutical companies during 2019 fell from the records set in 2018, but still came in second place by a wide margin, according to recent year-end wrap-ups – Silicon Valley Bank (SVB)’s annual Healthcare Investments & Exits report and the Venture Monitor report from Pitchbook and the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA).

SVB said drug developers in the US and Europe raised $15.64bn in 2019 versus $17.1bn in 2018, while Pitchbook and...

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More from Financing

BIO Notebook: IPO Window Stays Shut, PRVs Need To Be A Priority, And Focusing On Gene Therapy Safety

 
• By Mandy Jackson and Sarah Karlin-Smith

Highlights from day one of the BIO convention include advice for firms hoping to go public, a call for companies to push the US Congress on rare disease priority review vouchers, and updates on next-generation gene therapies.

Finance Watch: Scorpion Spinout Antares Launches With $177m For Precision Medicines

 
• By Mandy Jackson

Private Company Edition: Antares’ lead asset will enter the clinic in 2026 after Lilly committed up to $2.5bn for Scorpion’s Phase I/II PI3Kα inhibitor STX-478. Also, Amplify raised $200m for its first biotech VC fund and Mosanna raised an $80m series A round, among other financings.

Finance Watch: Insmed Cashes In On Positive Data With $750m Offering

 
• By Mandy Jackson

Public Company Edition: Insmed raised $750m after reporting positive Phase IIb data in PAH, Cogent accessed up to $400m in new debt, Kelun-Biotech netted $250m in a placement of shares and ADC revealed a $100m private placement. In strategic updates, Recursion cut 20% of its jobs.

Spain’s SpliceBio Secures Sanofi and Roche Support In $135m Financing

 
• By Kevin Grogan

Series B cash will be used to advance its Stargardt disease gene therapy.

More from Business

Early Blood Cancer Data Impresses As Incyte Plots Post-Jakafi Strategy

 
• By Kevin Grogan

First results for a first-in-class mutCALR-targeted therapy in essential thrombocythemia presented at EHA point to a lucrative future for the early-stage product.

Quick Listen: Scrip’s Five Must-Know Things

 
• By Ian Haydock

In this week's episode: breaking down big pharma’s executive pay; US vaccine panel upheaval; Merck’s RSV approval; MFN and Japan; and the future of Pfizer and Arvinas’s partnership.

UroGen Gets A First-Ever Bladder Cancer Approval Despite US FDA AdComm ‘No’ Vote

 
• By Joseph Haas

UroGen’s Zusduri was approved despite an advisory committee vote recommending against it in May. It is the first approved drug for a type of recurring bladder cancer.