Financing Quarterly Statistics, Q1 2021
A Look At Financing Activity Across The Biopharma, Medical Device And In Vitro Diagnostics Industries, January-March 2021
Executive Summary
To open the year, biopharmas brought in an aggregate $33.2bn in financing and device company fundraising totaled $2.8bn; while in vitro diagnostic firms and research tools players raised $7bn ($6.1bn).
Biopharma Financing
Biopharma financing during Q1 2021 reached $33.5bn, a 37% decrease from Q4’s $53.5bn. Note, however, that AstraZeneca’s outlier $17.05bn bridge-financing facility in December 2020 made up nearly a third of the Q4 dollar value; if we remove this transaction, the Q4 total is $36bn, more in line with Q1 2021 aggregate.
Taking the top spot in biopharma financings in Q1 was Dutch biotech argenx NV (treatments for autoimmune diseases and cancer), which netted $1.08bn through a global follow on public offering (FOPO). Proceeds will support ongoing R&D and commercial activities, including the potential launch of lead candidate efgartigimod, which is awaiting approval for generalized myasthenia gravis and also being developed for additional indications including immune thrombocytopenia, pemphigus vulgaris, and chronic demyelinating polyneuropathy. The FOPO category overall made up the highest percentage (34%) of the total money raised during Q1, bringing in an aggregate $11.3bn (see Exhibit 1).
In the one other billion-dollar financing of Q1, contract research organization (CRO) Charles River Laboratories International issued $500m of 3.75% senior notes due 2029 and $500m of 4.00% senior notes due 2031 to reduce its borrowings under existing senior credit facilities and to fund its concurrent $875m acquisition of Cognate BioServices. That fundraise made up a third of the debt category, which accounted for 11% of the Q1 financing dollars overall.
Venture capital financings made up 32% of the financing dollars for Q1. Early- and late-stage VC rounds together totaled $10.8bn, a sizable increase over Q4’s $6.6bn, which made up 13% of the total financing dollars for that period. During Q1, there were 101 biopharmas raising $6.8bn (20% of the total Q1 dollars) through early-stage rounds and 33 companies bringing in late-stage rounds totaling $4bn (12% of the Q1 total). There were 39 companies in all with rounds of $100m or more. Early-stage rounds had an average deal value of $70m, while late-stage rounds had an average deal value of $123m.
As the global coronavirus pandemic continued into 2021, 95 Q1 financings, together valued at $6.2bn, were done by biopharma companies having at least one COVID-19 therapeutic or vaccine asset in its pipeline or otherwise focused on a COVID-19 project (see Exhibit 2). The largest in this group was the aforementioned $1.08bn FOPO by argenx. While most of the company’s pipeline is autoimmune disease-focused, its IgG1 anti-C2 antibody candidate ARGX-117 is being evaluated in a Phase I trial in collaboration with Ghent University Hospital to determine its potential as a treatment for acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), a frequent and serious complication associated with COVID-19. Large FOPOs were also completed by CureVac BV ($491.6m; an authorization application for use in Switzerland was recently submitted to Swissmedic for its Phase III CVnCoV mRNA vaccine program against SARS-CoV-2) and Fate Therapeutics ($432m; a Phase I study in coronavirus for its FT516 off-the-shelf, allogeneic engineered NK cell immunotherapy began in May 2020). Additionally, two biotechs within this space completed initial public offerings: In its US IPO, Paris biotech Biophytis brought in $18.6m, which it will use a portion of to fund Phase II trials of lead program Sarconeos (BIO101) in sarcopenia and in respiratory failures linked to COVID-19. Virpax Pharmaceuticals Inc., which netted $16.65m, is developing preclinical MMS019, a high-density intranasal molecular masking spray to inhibit viral replication caused by SARS-CoV-2.
Thirty five biopharma companies raised an aggregate $4.6bn from completed initial public offerings, accounting for 14% of Q1 total. The IPO activity was about the same in terms of deal volume, but the deal value dipped significantly versus Q4's $7.3bn aggregate for 36 IPOs. The average Q1 IPO deal value was $132.7m (also down from Q4’s average $202m), with 20 of the Q1 IPOs bringing in $100m or more. Sana Biotechnology raised the most in its $546.4m IPO. It, along with transactions by nine other players in the gene/cell therapy space, together made up $2bn, or 43% of the total Q4 IPO dollars (see Exhibit 3).
|
Date |
Company (Area of Focus) |
Amount Raised ($m) |
|
Feb. 5 |
Sana Biotechnology (in vivo and ex vivo cell engineering platform to develop off-the-shelf cell therapies for indications including cancer, diabetes, and CNS and cardiovascular diseases) |
546.4 |
|
Mar. 18 |
Instil Bio (autologous tumor infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL) cancer therapies) |
297.6 |
|
Mar. 26 |
Design Therapeutics (disease-modifying gene-targeted chimera (GeneTAC) platform for degenerative disorders) |
256.7 |
|
Jan. 8 |
Gracell Biotechnologies (cell therapies using its FasTCAR autologous and TruUCAR allogeneic CAR-T technology platforms) |
194.4 |
|
Feb. 8 |
Vor Biopharma (engineered hematopoietic stem cell (eHSC) transplants for patients with hematological malignancies) |
189.2 |
|
Mar. 30 |
Achilles Therapeutics plc (therapy using a patient's own T cells to specifically target multiple clonal neoantigens and eradicate a tumor) |
163.2 |
|
Feb. 11 |
Decibel Therapeutics (integrating single-cell genomics and expertise in inner-ear biology for therapies designed to selectively replace genes for congenital, monogenic hearing loss) |
118.2 |
|
Feb. 11 |
NexImmune (AIM platform constructing nanoparticles that function as synthetic dendritic cells capable of directing a specific T cell-mediated immune response) |
117.7 |
|
Mar. 26 |
Lava Therapeutics (bispecific antibodies engineered to selectively induce gamma-delta T cell-mediated immunity against tumor cells) |
93.5 |
|
Feb. 11 |
Longeveron (cellular therapies derived from culture-expanded medicinal signaling cells sourced from bone marrow of healthy donors for specific aging-related and other conditions) |
27.0 |
Private offerings, at $17.6bn, made up slightly more (53%) of the Q1 total than public financings, which accounted for $15.9bn (47%) The only month in which public offerings outpaced private was February (see Exhibit 4).
Emerging Drug Developers
Biopharma start-ups raised a total of $8.93bn during the first quarter of 2021 (see Exhibit 5).Twenty-eight firms completed Series A rounds in Q1 and accounted for 19% of total fund-raising. Centessa Pharmaceuticals, which is implementing an asset-centric model for drug R&D, launched with a $250m oversubscribed Series A financing from a group of blue-chip investors. Concurrently, the company completed the merger of ten private biotech companies (ApcinteX, Capella BioScience, Janpix, LockBody, Morphogen-IX, Orexia Limited, Palladio Biosciences, PearlRiver Bio, PegaOne, and Z Factor) that will each continue to develop its assets with oversight from the Centessa management team. Centessa was founded by specialist life science venture capital firm Medicxi.
Taking the top spot in overall venture funding was gene and cell therapy firm ElevateBio, which raised $525m in its Series C financing. The company will use the funding to continue developing and expanding its technology platforms, build upon its network of process development and GMP manufacturing capacity, and advance an increasing number of industry partnerships, while also continuing to develop its own cell and gene therapies.
EQRx’s Series B financing raised $500m to support development of late-stage cancer therapies and expand the company's pipeline. EQRx’s candidates include the Phase III PD-L1 antibody sugemalimab for NSCLC with potential applications in additional solid tumors; the EGFR inhibitor almonertinib, which is approved in China and in late-stage NSCLC trials; a PD-1 antibody for primary liver cancer; and lerociclib, a CDK4/6 inhibitor for breast cancer.
Sana Biotechnology (engineering cells as medicines for patients) brought in the most in terms of public fundraising with its aforementioned upsized $546.4m initial public offering (see Exhibit 6). Sana was founded in 2019 with technology licensed from Harvard University as the company strives to develop off-the-shelf cell therapies. The company’s current product candidates are all in preclinical development. It seeks to file multiple investigational new drug applications (INDs) both in 2022 and 2023. The company’s therapies cover a range of indications including cancer, diabetes, and CNS and cardiovascular diseases.
|
Date |
Company |
Amount Raised ($m) |
|
Feb. 5 |
Sana Biotechnology |
546.4 |
|
Mar. 18 |
Instil Bio |
297.6 |
|
Mar. 26 |
Design Therapeutics |
256.7 |
|
Jan. 11 |
Cullinan Oncology |
232.4 |
|
Jan. 8 |
Gracell Biotechnologies |
194.4 |
|
Mar. 26 |
Edgewise Therapeutics |
188.2 |
|
Feb. 4 |
Terns Pharmaceuticals |
136.4 |
|
Feb. 4 |
Landos Biopharma |
93.0 |
|
Mar. 12 |
Longboard Pharmaceuticals |
74.4 |
|
Mar. 18 |
Gain Therapeutics |
42.8 |
|
Feb. 11 |
Vallon Pharmaceuticals |
16.7 |
|
|
Total: $2,079m
|
|
Medical Device Fundraising
First quarter 2021 device financing reached $2.8bn, a sharp decline from Q4 2020’s $4.2bn. The FOPO category made up the most, accounting for $780m, or 28%, of the Q1 total, followed by VC financings, which brought in an aggregate $736m, or 27% of the Q1 financing dollars (see Exhibit 7).
During Q1, three device players completed IPOs that together totaled $493m (see Exhibit 8), making up 18% of the quarter’s aggregate financing. This group includes Chinese device start-up CardioFlow, which netted $351m in its listing on the HKEX – the largest device financing of Q1 – and concurrent spin off from parent MicroPort Scientific.
|
Date |
Company (Business) |
Amount Raised ($m) |
|
Feb. 4 |
CardioFlow (transcatheter valve therapies to treat valvular heart conditions) |
350.5 |
|
Feb. 12 |
Bioventus (minimally invasive ultrasound bone healing system; osteoarthritis injection therapies for joint lubrication; and bone graft substitutes and bone morphogenetic protein products) |
96.7 |
|
Mar. 23 |
Movano (wearable technology designed to measure glucose, blood pressure, and other relevant health data) |
45.7 |
In addition to CardioFlow’s IPO, just two other financings hit the $100m mark during Q1: Cutera (a provider of laser and other energy-based aesthetic systems), which netted $133.5m through a private convertible debt offering, and Mainstay Medical Holdings plc (implantable restorative neurostimulation system for people with disabling mechanical chronic low back pain), which raised $108m in a private investment in public equity (PIPE) offering. In addition to Mainstay, nine other companies involved in therapies to treat neurological or psychological conditions raised an aggregate of $434m across a variety of financing vehicles during Q1 (see Exhibit 9).
|
Date |
Company (Area of Focus) |
Financing Type |
Amount Raised ($m) |
|
Feb. 16 |
Mainstay Medical (implantable restorative neurostimulation system for chronic low back pain) |
PIPE |
108.0 |
|
Mar. 17 |
Viz.ai (artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms to detect and triage stroke) |
Series C |
71.0 |
|
Jan. 28 |
Neuronetics (transcranial magnetic stimulator (TMS) therapy system to treat psychiatric disorders) |
FOPO |
70.5 |
|
Feb. 22 |
BrainsWay (non-invasive deep transcranial magnetic stimulation for neurological and psychiatric disorders) |
FOPO |
42.5 |
|
Feb. 18 |
ClearPoint Neuro (systems incorporating deep-brain stimulation, drug delivery to the brain, and minimally invasive brain surgery to treat neurological disorders) |
FOPO |
40.9 |
|
Jan. 7 |
Neuros Medical (high-frequency nerve block technology for intractable post-amputation pain) |
Series BB |
38.5 |
|
Jan. 21 |
MIVI Neuroscience (neurointerventional devices used in procedures to treat ischemic stroke) |
Series B |
35.0 |
|
Jan. 12 |
NeuroOne Medical Technologies (implantable electrode technology to treat epilepsy, Parkinson’s disease, dystonia, essential tremors, and other related brain disorders) |
PIPE |
11.5 |
|
Jan. 28 |
Helius Medical (portable neuromodulator stimulates the trigeminal and facial nerves to treat multiple sclerosis, TBI, stroke, and other neurodegenerative conditions) |
FOPO |
10.2 |
|
Jan. 19 |
Innodem Neurosciences (digital technology that uses eye movement and gaze mapping biomarkers to diagnose and manage neurodegenerative diseases) |
Series A |
6.0 |
Q1 venture rounds together totaled $736m, versus Q4’s 1.4bn (but the latter figure includes Verily Life’s $700m investment round in December 2020). There were 12 device players raising $403m through late-stage rounds in 2021’s opening quarter. Viz.ai Inc. raised the most in a $71m Series C round to expand its AI-driven Intelligent Care Coordination software platform beyond stroke to other areas of acute care such as cardiology, pulmology, and trauma. Topped by a $38.5m Series BB round by Neuros Medical, 20 companies overall completed early-stage rounds, together totaling $334m.
In all, private financings, at $1.5bn, outpaced the public offerings at $1.3bn and accounted for 54% of the quarter’s device fundraising total.
In Vitro Diagnostics Fundraising
Financing by diagnostics and research tools players brought in a total of $7bn for Q4, a sizable increase over Q4’s $6.1bn (see Exhibit 10). Accounting for the most money (39%) were initial public offerings, which raised an aggregate $2.8bn. Follow-on offerings, totaling $1.8bn, was the category bringing in the second-most dollars (25%) for Q1.
Seven diagnostics players went public during Q1 (see Exhibit 11). Ortho Clinical Diagnostics raised the most in its $1.4bn January offering, accounting for 51% of the Q1 IPO total. Proceeds will support Ortho’s clinical laboratories (clinical chemistry and immunoassay instruments and tests to detect and monitor disease progression) and transfusion medicine (analyzers that automate blood typing and serology disease screening and instruments and tests for blood and plasma screening for infectious diseases) main lines of business.
All other companies raised more than $100m, most in excess of $200m, in Q1 initial public offerings. Notably, two Chinese companies listed on the HKEX. New Horizon, which has two NMPA-approved non-invasive, stool-based early screening tests (ColoClear and Pupu Tube) that target a high-risk colorectal cancer population in China, will use the funding to help commercialization and further develop these products. Suzhou Basecare Medical will put some of the IPO proceeds toward commercialization activities for its PGT-A, an NMPA-approved genetic testing kit that screens for chromosomal abnormalities in embryos prior to implantation.
|
Date |
Company (Business) |
Amount Raised ($m) |
|
Jan. 29 |
Ortho Clinical Diagnostics (clinical laboratories and transfusion medicine) |
1426.4 |
|
Feb. 18 |
New Horizon Health (stool-based home screening tests using multi-target FIT-DNA platform for high-incidence cancers) |
282.5 |
|
Mar. 26 |
Olink Holding AB (proteomics products and services using protein biomarker discovery based on a flexible and scalable technology platform) |
246.2 |
|
Feb. 11 |
Talis Biomedical (rapid molecular testing for infectious diseases at the point-of-care) |
236.1 |
|
Feb. 8 |
Suzhou Basecare Medical (genetic testing for assisted reproduction) |
221.4 |
|
Mar. 12 |
Prometheus Biosciences Inc. (diagnose and treat inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)) |
203.2 |
|
Feb. 8 |
Lucira Health (molecular testing kits for respiratory diseases including COVID-19 and influenza A and B) |
163.6 |
Both early-and late-stage venture capital rounds brought in $764m, accounting for 10% of the total financing for the quarter, and a decrease from Q4’s $938m aggregate in this financing category. A few companies – including Color Health ($167m Series D; services including population genomics programs and high-throughput COVID-19 testing), Personal Genome Diagnostics ($103m Series C; cancer genomics),and Inflammatix ($102m Series D; molecular diagnostics) – had six-figure late-stage raises. On the early-stage end, Delfi Diagnostics raised a $100m Series A round to support development of early-detection liquid biopsy tests for multiple cancers.