Financing took a downward turn, with the exception of venture funding, which held steady overall, although the amount invested per round was also down from last year. Large rounds were raised by prominent artificial intelligence ventures Insilico Medicine and Exscientia. German vaccine makers BioNtech and CureVac were prominent biotech market movers: the former gaining 119% from 1Q21 after positive news on its COVID-19 vaccine (including efficacy data in adolescents), the latter losing 20% when a phase 2/3 trial demonstrated only 47% efficacy. M&A were very quiet in 2Q21, and the long-term trend is that public companies may have to wait a while for a trade sale. The procession of oversized stock market floats of preclinical cell and gene therapy companies raising hundreds of millions of dollars—even genomics research tool companies like Singular Genomics Systems—continued on public markets. Large public offerings for Centessa Pharmaceuticals and Atai Life Sciences signaled the rise of a new type of company: umbrella corporations containing multiple asset-centric ventures.
Stock market performance
The Biotech index performed roughly the same as the NASDAQ and slightly better than the other major indices.
Global biotech initial public offerings
The flood of companies onto public markets continued across the world.
Number of IPOs
1Q20 | 2Q20 | 3Q20 | 4Q20 | 1Q21 | 2Q21 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Asia-Pacific | 10 | 8 | 13 | 20 | 9 | 12 |
Europe | 1 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 7 | 8 |
Americas | 9 | 17 | 22 | 26 | 25 | 25 |
Global biotech financing
Only venture financing held steady in 2Q21.
Global biotech venture capital investment
The appetite for biotech enterprises continued, but less money flowed in.
Number of rounds
1Q20 | 2Q20 | 3Q20 | 4Q20 | 1Q21 | 2Q21 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Asia-Pacific | 15 | 23 | 31 | 35 | 23 | 24 |
Europe | 42 | 40 | 50 | 38 | 41 | 44 |
Americas | 99 | 107 | 102 | 86 | 132 | 137 |
Top ten IPOs of 2Q21
Company (principal underwriters) | Amount raised ($ millions) | Date completed | Latest stage and focus | Percent change in stock price (as of 7/15/2021) | Exchange |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Zymergen (J.P. Morgan, Goldman Sachs, BofA Securities) | 575 | 21 April | Biomaterials from engineered microbial strains | –7.0 | NASDAQ |
Recursion Pharmaceuticals (Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan, BofA Securities) | 502 | 16 April | Phase 1; AI-enabled drug screening | 3.8 | NASDAQ |
Lyell Immunopharma (Goldman Sachs., BofA Securities, J.P. Morgan) | 425 | 16 June | Preclinical; autologous T cells with CARs or TCRs engineered with ‘exhaustion resistance’ | –5 | NASDAQ |
CARsgen Therapeutics (Goldman Sachs, UBS, Citic Securities) | 400 | 17 June | Phase 2/3; autologous and allogeneic CAR-T cells engineered to express interleukin-7 and CC-motif chemokine ligand 21 | 6 | Hong Kong |
Centessa Pharmaceuticals (Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, Jefferies) | 380 | 27 May | Phase 3; umbrella company for asset-centric ventures | –4 | NASDAQ |
Verve Therapeutics (J.P. Morgan, Jefferies, Guggenheim Securities) | 307 | 16 June | IND; cardiovascular CRISPR gene editing therapy | 46 | NASDAQ |
Graphite Bio (Morgan Stanley, BofA Securities, Cowen) | 274 | 24 June | IND; CRISPR gene editing therapy | 34 | NASDAQ |
Singular Genomics Systems (J.P. Morgan, Goldman Sachs, BofA Securities) | 258 | 1 June | Preclinical; genomics research tools | –24 | NASDAQ |
Century Therapeutics (J.P. Morgan, BofA Securities, SVB Leerink) | 243 | 17 June | Preclinical; allogeneic iPSC-derived natural killer and T cells | 20 | NASDAQ |
Atai Life Sciences (Credit Suisse, Citigroup, Cowen, Berenberg Bank) | 225 | 17 June | Phase 3; umbrella company for asset-centric ventures in mental health | –7 | NASDAQ |
Janux Therapeutics (BofA Securities, Cowen, Evercore ISI) | 223 | 11 June | IND; bispecific antigen-binding fragment, single-chain Fv fragment and single antibody domains specific for tumor antigens and CD3 | 6.5 | NASDAQ |
Mergers and acquisitions
Target | Acquirer | Deal type | Value ($ millions) | Date announced |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Tidal Therapeutics | Sanofi | Acquisition | 470 | 9 April |
Kuur Therapeutics | Athenex | Acquisition | 185 | 4 May |
Allcyte | Exscientia | Acquisition | 69.7 | 15 June |
COVAXX | United Neuroscience | Merger | Undisclosed | 1 April |
Noria Therapeutics | Bayer | Acquisition | Undisclosed | 3 June |
Zikani Therapeutics | Eloxx Pharmaceuticals | Acquisition | Undisclosed | 1 April |
Park Therapeutics | Tris Pharma | Acquisition | Undisclosed | 29 April |
Gamut Therapeutics | SparingVision | Acquisition | Undisclosed | 20 April |
Top ten venture financings of 2Q21
Company (lead investors) | Amount raised ($ millions) | Round | Date completed | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Insilico Medicine (Warburg Pincus, Pavilion Capital, President International Development) | 255 | C | 22 June | China |
Exscientia (SoftBank Vision Fund, Mubadala Investment, Casdin Capital) | 225 | D | 26 April | United Kingdom |
Dermavant Sciences (Marathon Asset Management, NovaQuest Capital Management and others) | 200 | ND | 7 June | United States |
Repertoire Immune Medicines (SoftBank Vision Fund, PSP Investments) | 189 | B | 13 April | United States |
Point Biopharma (RA Capital Management, Johnson & Johnson Development, Surveyor Capital) | 165 | ND | 30 June | Canada |
Inscripta (Fidelity Management and Research, Counterpoint Global, JS Capital Management) | 150 | E | 5 April | United States |
Eikon Therapeutics (Column Group, Foresite Capital, Innovation Endeavors) | 148 | A | 5 May | United States |
Apollo Therapeutics (Patient Square Capital, Rock Springs Capital, Reimagined Ventures) | 145 | ND | 5 May | United Kingdom |
Jaguar Gene Therapy (Eli Lilly, Deerfield Management, Arch Venture) | 139 | B | 13 April | United States |
Janux Therapeutics (RA Capital Management, Surveyor Capital, EcoR1 Capital) | 125 | B | 20 April | United States |
Top ten licensings/collaborations of 2Q21 by up-front cash
Researcher | Partner | Up-front cash ($ millions) | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
iTeos Therapeutics | GlaxoSmithKline | 625 | GSK partners with iTeos Therapeutics to develop and commercialize EOS-448, an anti-TIGIT human IgG1 mAb to treat solid tumors |
Agenus | Bristol Myers Squibb | 200 | Agenus and Bristol Myers Squibb announce exclusive global license for Agenus’s anti-TIGIT bispecific fully human mAb program |
Capsida Biotherapeutics | AbbVie | 80 | Capsida Biotherapeutics partners with AbbVie to develop and commercialize capsid-engineered AAV-9 gene therapies to treat CNS disorders |
Shoreline Biosciences | BeiGene | 45 | Shoreline Biosciences and BeiGene announce strategic worldwide collaboration to develop and commercialize engineered natural killer cell therapies |
Halozyme Therapeutics | ViiV Healthcare | 40 | ViiV Healthcare and Halozyme enter global collaboration and license agreement for recombinant hyaluronidase drug delivery technology to enable development of long-acting medicines for HIV |
Bio-Thera Solutions | Biogen | 30 | Bio-Thera Solutions grants Biogen exclusive rights to develop and commercialize biosimilar tocilizumab (anti-IL-6 receptor) outside Greater China |
FujiFilm Cellular Dynamics and Opsis Therapeutics | BlueRock Therapeutics | 30 | BlueRock Therapeutics, Fujifilm Cellular Dynamics and Opsis Therapeutics enter into an R&D alliance to discover and develop iPSC therapies for eye diseases |
Caraway Therapeutics | AbbVie | 17 | Caraway Therapeutics establishes collaboration with AbbVie to develop novel small-molecule therapeutics for Parkinson’s disease and related disorders |
Capsigen | Biogen | 15 | Biogen partners with Capsigen to discover and develop novel AAV capsids for targeted CNS and neuromuscular disorders |
Mirum Pharmaceuticals | CANbridge Pharmaceuticals | 11 | Mirum Pharmaceuticals and CANbridge Pharmaceuticals enter into exclusive licensing agreement to develop and commercialize in Greater China the small molecule maralixibat, which targets the apical sodium-dependent bile acid transporter, for rare liver diseases |
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DeFrancesco, L. 2Q21—a slowing of the pace. Nat Biotechnol 39, 906–907 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41587-021-01010-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41587-021-01010-6
