Biotech Investment Stagnates in Third Quarter

Investment in the biotechnology sector stagnated in the third quarter of 2015, raising $2.1 billion, according to the latest MoneyTree Report from PricewaterhouseCoopers and the National Venture Capital Association.

Still, that amount solidified biotech’s number-two spot behind software companies’ $5.8 billion. The money was doled out over 121 deals, slightly down from previous quarters. And though flat compared with the second quarter of 2015, venture capital for biotech companies jumped 77 percent compared with the same quarter in 2014.

Lifesciences firms — pharmaceuticals and medical devices — saw $2.9 billion through 194 deals during the quarter, topping the same quarter in 2014 by more than $1 billion.

One biotech company – Stem CentRx, a San Francisco developer of cancer drugs, which attracted $250 million — came in fifth on a list dominated by software companies.

“We’re on track for one of our largest biotech years we’ve had in quite a long time,” says Greg Vlahos, lifesciences partner with PWC.

The MoneyTree report lists the top five biotech startups for venture capital as: Stem, Editas Medicine in Cambridge, Mass., Ovid Therapeutics in New York, Corvus Pharmaceuticals in Burlingame, Calif., and Intellia Therapeutics, also in Cambridge. — Victoria Pelham