2.11. The healing game: Biotech in recovery

The flow of money is a constant preoccupation of the biotechnology sector, because without it nothing gets done. So, whether the markets are up or down, and whether investors are buying or selling is important, even if it is secondary to the actual business of biotech, which is the discovery and development of therapies that offer improvements over what is currently available.

Investor sentiment in biotech is cyclical, based both on external macroeconomic factors and on the sector’s internal dynamics. A recent flurry of investment activity in the public and private markets has prompted some to suggest that biotech is now in full-blown recovery mode. The IPO window appears open, and several large transactions have occurred. In the public markets, the overall gains are still distinctly modest, however.

The Nasdaq Biotechnology Index is actually down 1% since the start of the year, although it is up 12% over the past year. In venture capital, the picture looks a little more rosy, as several deals north of $100 million have been disclosed in recent weeks, including Mirador Therapeutics’ eye-catching $400 million financing to fund its efforts to discover “precision” drugs for immune-mediated inflammatory and fibrotic diseases, based on new insights into human genetics and disease biology.

As always, the innovative potential of individual companies will influence the size of a given deal. Cyclical considerations aside, that too is what keeps investors coming back to biotech. And there is plenty of room for more innovation in the sector.

Companies mentioned in this episode:
Acusphere, Alto Neuroscience, Ark Therapeutics, AstraZeneca, Biontech, Bristol Myers Squibb, Capstan Therapeutics, CG Oncology, Fog Pharma, Fusion Pharmaceuticals, Karuna Therapeutics, Kyverna Therapeutics, Mirador Therapeutics, Pfizer, Roche, Sionna Therapeutics & Vertex Pharmaceuticals. 

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