The Burrill Report

Surging public market financings boosted activity for U.S. life sciences companies as the sector raised $53 billion in public and private capital during the first three quarters of 2013, a 10.5 percent increase. That compares to $48 billion during the same period in 2012.

Initial public offerings and follow-on offerings represented the biggest jump in activity, as biotech soared in the public markets as demand for such offerings as general investor returned to the sector in search of better returns.

A strong year for new drug approval in 2012, the renewal of the Prescription Drug User Fee Act, and the passage of the JOBS Act, which eased the regulatory requirement for emerging growth companies going public have contributed to the sector’s strength, but the sector which had been depressed during the deep recession has also enjoyed a renewed enthusiasm for biotech on Wall Street.

Generalist and momentum investors joined biotech specialists in the initial public offerings of 39 life sciences companies, which as a whole raised almost $6 billion. This compared to just 12 life sciences IPOs during the first three quarters of 2012, which raised a total of $871 million.

Companies also took advantage of favorable share prices to raise money through follow-on offerings, which were up 93.7 percent during the first three quarters of 2013, compared to the same period in 2012.

Capital for privately held life sciences companies grew 2.9 percent during the first three quarters of 2013 to $7.3 billion, compared to $7 billion raised during the same period in 2012, and $5.6 billion in 2011. A breakdown by category shows that therapeutics companies raised $2.5 billion, or 34 percent of the total. That compares to 33 percent of the total capital raised by privately held life sciences companies during the same period in 2012.










November 08, 2013
http://www.burrillreport.com/article-robust_pace_of_financings_continues.html