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US venture capital for biotechnology

Nature Biotechnology volume 21, pages 613–617 (2003)Cite this article

A survey of US venture capital funds investing in biotechnology shows that the poor economy did not deter VC investment in biotechnology in 2002, but it is unclear what looms ahead.

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Figure 1: US biotechnology VC sites.

©Rebecca Henretta

Figure 2: Snapshot of investment strategy and current fund status for US VCs investing in biotechnology companies, 2002.
Figure 3: Average fund size for US VC Funds with some investment in Biotechnology, 2002.
Figure 4: Dollars raised, total company valuation and founders' equity at each stage of financing.

References

  1. BioAbility, 2003 U.S. Biotechnology VC Directory: U.S. Venture Capital Companies and Contacts, 2003 (Thomson BioWorld, http://www.bioworld.com/, 2003).

  2. National Venture Capital Association, survey released January 14, 2003 ((http://www.nvca.org/), 2003).

  3. Marshall M. New breed of VCs banking on biotech. Mercury News, August 18, 2002.

  4. VentureOne and Ernst & Young. Venture investment in healthcare highest since boom, information technology companies left with less than 1/2 the pie. Press release, July 26, 2002.

  5. PricewaterhouseCoopers/Thomson. Venture Economics and National Venture Capital Association MoneyTree Survey. Investments by industry 1995–2003. Press release, January 14, 2003.

  6. Satomi, D. & Van Brunt, J. Down, but not out: financial snapshot for December 2002. Signals Magazine, http://www.signalsmag.com/, 2002.

  7. Glass, Cindy. ThinkEquity partners. Mapping the Financing Genome presentation, Research Triangle Park, NC, March 4, 2003.

  8. Staff reporter. Though overall VC spending stumbles and falls, private equity shines on biotech. GenomeWeb, http://www.genomeweb.com/, June 28, 2002.

  9. Burrill & Company. Biotech survives its toughest year ever. Press release, January 3, 2003.

  10. Staff reporter. VCs flee genomics shops in Q3; bioinformatics providers hardest hit. GenomeWeb, http://www.genomeweb.com/, September 30, 2002.

  11. Howard K. Ah, youth: tough times for start-up companies means toughing it out. GenomeWeb, http://www.genomeweb.com/, October 4, 2002.

  12. BioAbility, 2003 European Biotechnology VC Directory: European Venture Capital Companies and Contacts, 2003 (Thomson BioWorld, http://www.bioworld.com/, 2003).

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank Howard Wachtler and Dragan Cicic of QED Technologies and Jefferson Clarke of The Aurora Funds for their review and comments.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. BioAbility, LLC, Research Triangle Park, NC, 27709, USA

    Mark D Dibner & Melanie Trull

  2. Curriculum in Neurobiology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, 27514, NC, USA

    Michael Howell

Authors
  1. Mark D Dibner
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  2. Melanie Trull
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  3. Michael Howell
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Correspondence to Mark D Dibner.

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Dibner, M., Trull, M. & Howell, M. US venture capital for biotechnology. Nat Biotechnol 21, 613–617 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1038/nbt0603-613

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