Interested in biotech financing in the U.K.?

Print 29 January 2015
John Carroll, FierceBiotech

You'd have to be deaf, dumb and blind to have overlooked the supercharged sense of optimism at JP Morgan a few weeks ago. There's more money pumping into the industry through venture funds, private equity, IPOs and follow-ons than ever before. And today's news that the first trio of U.S. biotech IPOs got off the ground--with one potential breakout in the group--signals that the good times aren't over yet.

What you may have overlooked, though, is that the fever that has been driving new deals in the U.S. has also spread to Europe. Nick Taylor picked up on that with his latest missive from the continent, noting that biotech IPOs in Europe last year raised more than twice what was raised in all the IPOs of the previous 5 years. Biotech venture funding in the U.K. soared 41%, with the golden triangle of London, Cambridge and Oxford commanding the lion's share of the cash.

So where do we go from here? I'll be in London on February 4 to discuss that topic with some of the experts: Anja Koenig, managing director of the Novartis Venture Fund; Kevin Johnson at Index Ventures; Patrick Verheyen, head of J&J's Innovation center in London and David Phillips, a partner at GlaxoSmithKline's SR One.

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