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Where the money is, 2016 edition: The top 100 VCs investing in biotech, by the numbers

Home page Media Center Industry news Where the money is, 2016 edition: The top 100 VCs investing in biotech, by the numbers

Print 19 January 2017
John Carroll / Endpoints News

Using the latest set of numbers on the top 100 VCs operating in the US, you can sketch out all of the big trends at play in the multibillion-dollar game of biotech investing and startups. this is a good place to get started on that exercise.

The top four VCs — Flagship, Third Rock, New Enterprise Associates and Arch Venture — all entered 2016 flush with cash and ready to start ramping up new companies while fostering the upstarts already in their portfolios, according to figures Thomson Reuters provided to Endpoints News. NEA may have slipped down the list a bit, but the life sciences group under David Mott continues to be one of the most prolific in the industry, not shy in the least to take a lead role in big new rounds.

In many cases, these four VCs have been kickstarting companies into existence using a blank-slate approach in tracking down and sparking the shift from academia into the clinic. And groups like Atlas and 5AM have been close behind.

If you ranked these firms by the number of deals, Polaris would come in at the top (same as last year) though they are clearly looking at making smaller bets across a wider slate of candidates.

Most of these top players are keenly interested in the earliest stages of investing in biotech, but the undertow on the money is also inevitably broadening to include later stages of work, which is why Flagship recently added a new $285 million fund to extend its reach further down the clinic.

With IPOs suffering last year, it’s also no surprise to see a crossover investor like RA Capital drop from 5th in 2015 to 56th in 2016. But OrbiMed and Deerfield remain in the top tier of the busiest players.

The number of new deals has slipped, which is also no surprise. 2015 remains a record year in venture investing that will be hard to beat in the coming years, as VCs wait out the lull in the public market. But the overall flow of cash remains near enough to historic highs to keep the landscape looking bright.

To fully understand these numbers, you have to start by clarifying that the totals in the amount invested column aren’t gospel. Thomson Reuters gathers up all the numbers it can find — in the news, SEC filings and so on — and then divvies the amount of each round by the number of players on record. If one VC was involved in a round, they have a solid figure. If 4 or 5 players are involved, they divide by the total and use that as the average. It’s not perfect, but it does capture the level of activity each VC is playing with.

Based on the number of new funds that continue to attract record amounts of money for players like Versant, it’s fair to say that 2017 looks solid as we begin the year. Just about everyone expects a repeat of 2016 on the IPO front, though with Donald Trump entering the White House as the wild card in American politics — stroking corporations with one hand while slapping pharma with the other — who really knows what’s going to happen?

Someone asked me recently where they had the best shot at raising cash for his biotech venture. My suggestion: Look over the numbers and deals in your own sector and see who has a track record in your field. And this is a good place to get started on that exercise.

 Table

Top 100 VC firms investing in U.S. biotech companies
Based on all known 2016 deals

Click on row header to sort ->

Firm

# Deals

# of Companies

Avg Equity/Deal ($M)

Avg Equity/Company ($M)

Total Equity Invested

1

Flagship Pioneering

12

9

21.82

29.09

261.83

2

Third Rock Ventures LLC

14

11

12.18

15.51

170.57

3

New Enterprise Associates, Inc.

22

21

6.64

6.96

146.11

4

Arch Venture Partners LLC

17

15

7.72

8.75

131.18

5

Venrock Inc

10

8

11.88

14.85

118.78

6

Deerfield Management Company LP

14

14

8.25

8.25

115.51

7

OrbiMed Advisors LLC

15

14

6.99

7.48

104.79

8

Atlas Venture Advisors Inc

13

13

7.11

7.11

92.42

9

Gurnet Point Capital LLC

1

1

92.00

92.00

92.00

10

5AM Ventures LLC

21

15

4.31

6.03

90.47

11

Celgene Corp

5

5

16.79

16.79

83.95

12

F-Prime Capital Partners

8

7

10.33

11.80

82.63

13

GE Ventures Inc

4

4

19.98

19.98

79.93

14

Canaan Partners

20

17

4.00

4.70

79.90

15

Polaris Venture Partners

23

21

3.30

3.61

75.82

16

Frazier Management LLC

14

12

4.83

5.63

67.56

17

KKR & Co LP

3

3

22.14

22.14

66.42

18

Essex Woodlands Management Inc

5

4

12.40

15.50

62.01

19

Luxin Venture Capital Group Co Ltd

1

1

61.45

61.45

61.45

20

Illuminate Ventures

1

1

55.00

55.00

55.00

21

Google Ventures

7

7

7.60

7.60

53.19

22

Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers LLC

10

10

5.17

5.17

51.68

23

Domain Associates LLC

13

11

3.86

4.57

50.23

24

Novartis Venture Funds

7

7

7.17

7.17

50.17

25

Khosla Ventures LLC

6

6

8.30

8.30

49.81

26

Altitude Funds LLC

4

4

12.23

12.23

48.91

27

Fidelity Investment Funds II

1

1

48.00

48.00

48.00

28

Pfizer Venture Investments

9

8

5.21

5.86

46.90

29

Sofinnova Ventures Inc

7

6

6.54

7.63

45.80

30

Amzak Capital Management LLC

2

2

21.95

21.95

43.91

31

Alexandria Venture Investments

12

12

3.53

3.53

42.33

32

Column Group

4

4

10.38

10.38

41.51

33

S.R. One, Limited

7

7

5.66

5.66

39.61

34

Bezos Expeditions

2

2

19.75

19.75

39.50

35

Vivo Capital LLC

9

8

4.21

4.74

37.93

36

MPM Capital LLC

8

7

4.72

5.40

37.77

37

HealthQuest Capital

3

3

12.18

12.18

36.53

38

Aisling Capital LLC

8

8

4.34

4.34

34.72

39

Apple Tree Partners

6

5

5.55

6.66

33.31

40

ORI Capital

2

2

16.50

16.50

33.00

41

Johnson & Johnson Innovation-JJDC Inc

7

7

4.67

4.67

32.72

42

Alaska Permanent Fund Corp

1

1

32.33

32.33

32.33

43

Sofinnova Partners SAS

4

4

7.93

7.93

31.71

44

Novo A/S

8

8

3.90

3.90

31.21

45

Clarus Ventures LLC

10

9

3.01

3.34

30.05

46

Foresite Capital Management LLC

4

4

7.44

7.44

29.75

47

SV Life Sciences Advisers, LLC

10

9

2.97

3.30

29.66

48

Osage Partners

9

9

3.25

3.25

29.28

49

Lundbeckfond Ventures

5

5

5.54

5.54

27.70

50

WuXi Healthcare Ventures

5

4

5.54

6.93

27.70

51

Y Combinator Inc

2

2

13.46

13.46

26.92

52

Boston Scientific Corp

2

2

13.40

13.40

26.80

53

Sutter Hill Ventures

2

2

13.04

13.04

26.07

54

Topspin Partners LP

3

3

8.17

8.17

24.51

55

Arboretum Ventures Inc

4

4

6.11

6.11

24.45

56

RA Capital Management LLC

6

6

3.86

3.86

23.19

57

Rock Springs Capital Management LP

4

4

5.70

5.70

22.79

58

NanoDimension Management Ltd

6

5

3.78

4.54

22.69

59

U.S. Venture Partners

10

9

2.20

2.44

21.98

60

Kraft Group LLC

3

3

7.27

7.27

21.80

61

F Hoffmann La Roche AG

5

5

4.35

4.35

21.73

62

Mayo Medical Ventures

4

3

5.17

6.89

20.68

63

Sectoral Asset Management Inc

2

2

10.31

10.31

20.63

64

Oak Investment Partners

2

2

10.06

10.06

20.13

65

Lightstone Ventures LP

3

3

6.71

6.71

20.12

66

Morgenthaler Ventures

7

5

2.85

3.99

19.96

67

RiverVest Venture Partners LLC

6

6

3.27

3.27

19.63

68

Versant Venture Management, LLC

4

4

4.82

4.82

19.28

69

Mission Bay Capital LLC

6

6

3.13

3.13

18.76

70

Alta Partners

2

2

9.31

9.31

18.61

71

InterWest Partners LLC

6

6

3.08

3.08

18.47

72

Temasek Holdings (Private) Ltd

3

3

6.15

6.15

18.46

73

Merieux Developpement SAS

2

2

9.21

9.21

18.42

74

Salem Capital Partners, L.P.

1

1

18.31

18.31

18.31

75

Lux Capital

5

5

3.53

3.53

17.64

76

HBM Healthcare Investments AG

3

3

5.66

5.66

16.98

77

Xeraya Capital Sdn Bhd

3

3

5.66

5.66

16.98

78

North Bridge Venture Partners LP

4

3

4.04

5.39

16.16

79

Meritech Capital Partners

2

1

8.04

16.09

16.09

80

Trinnovate Ventures Inc

2

2

7.95

7.95

15.90

81

Abingworth Management Ltd

2

2

7.94

7.94

15.88

82

Venbio Partners LLC

2

2

7.86

7.86

15.72

83

Newspring Capital

2

2

7.84

7.84

15.68

84

Partisan Management Group, Inc.

2

2

7.63

7.63

15.25

85

Longitude Capital Management Co LLC

3

3

4.95

4.95

14.85

86

Windham Venture Partners

2

2

7.23

7.23

14.46

87

Shire Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

1

1

14.35

14.35

14.35

88

Merck Global Health Innovation Fund LLC

3

3

4.72

4.72

14.16

89

Heritage Group LLC

2

2

7.06

7.06

14.11

90

Advent Venture Partners LLP

2

2

6.92

6.92

13.83

91

Beijing Bencao Investment Advisor Co Ltd

1

1

13.75

13.75

13.75

92

Gimpo Ind Invest Fund Mgmt Co

1

1

13.75

13.75

13.75

93

Kaiser Permanente Ventures LLC

4

4

3.42

3.42

13.68

94

Biostar Ventures II LLC

2

2

6.79

6.79

13.57

95

Lightspeed Management Company LLC

3

3

4.52

4.52

13.55

96

AbbVie Biotech Ventures, Inc.

2

2

6.65

6.65

13.30

97

Aperture Venture Partners LLC

3

3

4.43

4.43

13.29

98

Paladin Capital Management LLC

2

2

6.62

6.62

13.24

99

Third Point Ventures LP

1

1

13.05

13.05

13.05

100

Partners Innovation Fund LLC

4

3

3.23

4.31

12.93

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