What started as a sluggish public market has metastasized to affect other types of financing. Debt fell off a cliff; partnerships are at previously unseen lows; mergers and acquisitions are scarce. With the initial public offering window close to shut, a measly four companies floated in the public markets; private equity, however, remained strong. Venture capital firms continued to raise money, promising continued investment for startups — and at the end of June, Arch announced the raising of a new $3 billion fund. The sizzle of special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs) — a way of raising money through an initial public offering (IPO) to buy another company that is less burdensome than a traditional IPO — has fizzled; just one had taken place by June 1, compared with 17 announced over the same period last year. Startups developing bispecific antibodies, messenger RNA vaccines, gene therapies and cell therapies all raised large rounds.
Stock market performance
More of the same in 2Q22 as in 1Q22, as biotech stock prices hemorrhaged along with the other exchanges.
Global biotech initial public offerings
After a woeful quarter for public floats in 1Q22, 2Q22 actually got worse.
Number of IPOs
1Q21 | 2Q21 | 3Q21 | 4Q21 | 1Q22 | 2Q22 | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Asia-Pacific | 15 | 15 | 14 | 13 | 9 | 2 |
Europe | 13 | 13 | 3 | 8 | 4 | 0 |
Americas | 27 | 26 | 27 | 19 | 8 | 2 |
Global biotech financing
Partnerships are starting to show same malaise as other funding sources.
Global biotech venture capital investment
Private investment remained steady … for now.
Number of rounds
1Q21 | 2Q21 | 3Q21 | 4Q21 | 1Q22 | 2Q22 | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Asia-Pacific | 35 | 19 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 30 |
Europe | 55 | 51 | 42 | 52 | 47 | 36 |
Americas | 159 | 117 | 86 | 111 | 145 | 101 |
Top 10 venture financings of 2Q22
Company (lead investors) | Amount raised ($ millions) | Round | Date completed | Location | Focus |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tessera Therapeutics (Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, Alaska Permanent Fund, Altitude Life Sciences and others) | 300 | C | 19 April | United States | Gene editing and writing using retrotransposases to insert RNA sequences into ‘safe-harbor’ retrotransposons in the genome |
Kriya Therapeutics (Patient Square Capital, Bluebird Ventures, CAM Capital and others) | 270 | C | 16 May | United States | AAV gene therapy encoding IGF1 and GLP-1R agonist for type I and II diabetes. Other programs in glycogen storage disorders, oncology and ophthalmology. |
Upstream Bio (OrbiMed Advisors, Manuha, Access Biotechnology and others) | 200 | A | 2 June | United States | Monoclonal antibodies against thymic stromal lymphopoietin in eosinophilic and non-eosinophilic asthma |
Retro Biosciences (undisclosed investors) | 180 | Uncharacterized | 6 April | United States | Lifespan-extending programs using cellular reprograming and plasma-based screens as well as autophagy-targeting compound |
BostonGene (NEC Capital Solutions, Impact Investment Capital, Japan Industrial Partners) | 150 | B | 6 April | United States | Patient-oriented interface integrating personal ‘omics and imaging data analysis to identify neoantigens, rank best suited combinations of immunotherapies and assess eligibility for trials |
MOMA Therapeutics (Goldman Sachs Asset Management, Section 32, Pavilion Capital and others) | 150 | B | 10 May | United States | Small molecules targeting enzyme ATPase domains in DNA and RNA helicases, chromatin remodelers and transmembrane transporters for oncology, inflammation and rare diseases |
Aspen Neuroscience (GV, Lyfe Capital, Revelation Partners and others) | 147.5 | B | 9 May | United States | Autologous iPS cell-derived neuron-like cells for replacement cell therapy in Parkinson’s disease |
Doma Pharmaceuticals (Beijing BioCytogen, China Life Private Equity Firm, PICC Capital) | 142.7 | A | 1 June | China | Umbrella corporation for incubating several companies; initial programs developing bispecific ADCs for cancer |
RVAC Medicines (CBC Group, Pavilion Capital, EDBI, GS Holdings) | 140 | B | 26 April | Singapore | Lipid nanoparticle-delivered mRNA vaccines and therapeutics with GMP manufacturing with a leading COVID-19 program |
GI Innovation (SK, Yuhan, iMarketKorea and others) | 134 | Uncharacterized | 21 April | South Korea | Bispecific antibodies in immune-oncology and allergies |
Mergers and acquisitions
Target | Acquirer | Deal focus | Value ($ millions) | Date announced |
---|---|---|---|---|
BioHaven Pharmaceuticals | Pfizer | Migraine therapies for commercialization | 11,600 | 24 May |
Turning Point Therapeutics | Bristol Meyer Squibb | Oncology pipeline and repotrectinib, a tyrosine kinase inhibitor targeting proto-oncogene tyrosine-protein kinase ROS1 and neurotrophic tyrosine receptor kinase, drivers of non-small cell lung cancer and other advanced solid tumors | 4,100 | 3 June |
Sierra Oncology | GlaxoSmithKline | The late-stage targeted therapy momelotinib, an inhibitor of the BMP6/ACVR1/SMAD and IL-6/JAK/STAT3 pathways, resulting in restored erythropoiesis in myelofibrosis | 1,900 | 13 April |
Antares Pharma | Halozyme Therapeutics | Auto-injector used in EpiPen and others | 960 | 13 April |
Checkmate Pharmaceuticals | Regeneron | The late-stage immuno-oncology asset vidutolimod, an agonist of toll-like receptor 9 delivered in a virus-like particle for potential use in multiple tumor types | 250 | 19 April |
CellPoint | Galapagos | Decentralized supply model for cell-based therapies | 132 | 21 June |
AboundBio | Galapagos | Fully human antibody libraries with different binder formats | 14 | 21 June |
Orphazyme | KemPharm | Arimaclomol, molecular chaperon activator for Niemann–Pick disease and other neurodegenerative diseases | 12 | 15 May |
Affinity DNA | Genetic Technologies | Direct-to-consumer genetic testing | 0.683 | 16 May |
Atrin Pharmaceuticals | Aprea Therapeutics | ATR inhibitors, as monotherapies and in combination with standard of care in phase 1/2a clinical trials in solid tumor malignancies | Undisclosed | 16 May |
Top 10 licensings/collaborations of 2Q22 by up-front cash
Researcher | Partner | Up-front cash ($ millions) | Description |
---|---|---|---|
Dragonfly Therapeutics | Gilead Science | 300 | Gilead and Dragonfly announce strategic research collaboration to develop natural killer cell engagers for oncology and inflammation |
Intercept | Advanz Pharma | 405 | Advanz Pharma acquires rights to commercialize Ocaliva (obeticholic acid) to treat liver disease outside the US |
Cullinan Oncology | Taiho Pharmaceuticals | 275 | Strategic collaboration to jointly develop and commercialize CLN-081/TAS6417, a pan-mutation EGFR inhibitor, and Taiho’s acquisition of Cullinan Pearl |
Chimerix | Emergent Biosolutions | 225 | Emergent BioSolutions to acquire exclusive worldwide rights to Tembexa (brincidofovir), the first FDA-approved smallpox oral antiviral for all ages |
Repare Therapeutics | Roche | 125 | Repare Therapeutics announces a worldwide license and collaboration agreement with Roche for camonsertib, an ATR inhibitor, for solid tumors |
FG2 | Shionogi | 100 | Shionogi and F2G enter strategic collaboration to develop and commercialize the new antifungal agent olorofim in Europe and Asia |
BridgeBio | Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS) | 90 | BridgeBio announces exclusive license agreement with BMS to develop and commercialize BBP-398, a potentially best-in-class SHP2 inhibitor, for oncology |
Precision Bioscience | Novartis | 75 | Precision BioSciences announces an in vivo gene editing collaboration with Novartis to develop treatment for disorders including sickle cell disease |
Shanghai Henlius Biotech | Organon | 73 | Organon enters into a global license agreement to commercialize Henlius’s investigational Perjeta (pertuzumab) and Prolia/Xgeva (denosumab) biosimilar candidates |
Immatics | BMS | 60 | Immatics and BMS expand strategic alliance to develop γδ allogeneic cell-therapy programs |
Top IPOs of 2Q22
Company (principal underwriters) | Amount raised ($ millions) | Date completed | Latest stage and focus | Percent change in stock price (as of 7/5/2022) | Exchange |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
HilleVax (J. P. Morgan, SVB Securities, Stifel, Nicolaus, Guggenheim Securities) | 200 | 28 April | Phase 2: bivalent VLP-based vaccine for norovirus infections | −45 | NASDAQ |
PepGen (BofA Securities, SVB Securities, Stifel, Nicolaus, Wedbush PacGrow) | 108 | 5 May | Phase 1: arginine-rich cell-penetrating peptide-conjugated phosphorodiamidate morpholino antisense oligonucleotides for degenerative neuromuscular diseases | −21 | NASDAQ |
Voronoi (Korea Investment and Securitues, Mirae Asset Securities) | 62 | 24 June | Phase 1: small-molecule kinase inhibitors and protein degraders | NA | KRX |
Belite Bio (The Benchmark Co.) | 40.6 | 3 May | Phase 3: small-molecule retinal binding protein 4 antagonist to slow progression of dry AMD and Stargardt disease | 256 | NASDAQ |
Microba Life Sciences (Bell Potter Securities, Canaccord Genuity (Australia)) | 22.6 | 4 April | Marketed (tools and services): metagenomics platform for connecting microbial genotype to human phenotype | −44 | ASK (Australia) |
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
DeFrancesco, L. 2Q22 — Slip sliding away. Nat Biotechnol 40, 1166–1168 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41587-022-01414-y
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41587-022-01414-y