Biotech, Pharmaceutical Firms Get Record Venture Capital Funds

The healthcare industry, led by biotech and pharmaceutical companies, garnered a record share of the venture capital (VC) dollars last year, according to a recent report.

VC firms invested $6.33 billion -- or 30.2 percent of all VC dollars -- in healthcare companies in 2004, beating out all other industries, according to new research from PricewaterhouseCoopers Health Research Institute. Of the total investment, $3.9 billion, or more than 61 percent, went to biotechnology and pharmaceutical firms, the report says. In 2003, VC investment in biotech and pharmaceuticals totaled $3.53 billion.

Meanwhile, medical devices and equipment received $1.77 billion in 2004, and health services and health information technology received $687 million last year, the report says.