Although biotech stocks were volatile, the boom of company flotations continued. Sana Biotechnology, a gene and cell therapy aggregator and the latest in preclinical companies to go public, raised $675.6 million, besting Moderna’s 2018 all-time blockbuster initial public offering (IPO) of $604.3 million. The IPO chart was topped by cell therapy developers (Sana, Instil Bio, Vor Biopharma and Gracell Biotechnologies), the first three of which (joined with another early-stage firm, Design Therapeutics) are still only in preclinical development. Overall, $8.5 billion in IPO financing cascaded into the sector, with 196 companies raising all-time highs in the United States/Canada and Europe; private investments also ballooned to $12.8 billion, up across the globe on 1Q20. Debt and deals, though, lost ground: the former down year-on-year, though up (to $4.6 billion) from 4Q20; partnerships dropped 73% from 4Q20, indicating a potential temporary blip, tougher negotiating from biotech firms flush with cash, or a lack of face-to-face interactions finally slowing deal flow. Delivery featured prominently in licensing, including Genevant (formerly Arbutus) lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) now proven in COVID-19 mRNA vaccines.
Stock market performance
An up-and-down quarter, with biotech stocks tumbling back 12% from the February all-time high.
Global biotech initial public offerings
The IPO market still red hot in Europe and the Americas.
Number of IPOs
4Q19 | 1Q20 | 2Q20 | 3Q20 | 4Q20 | 1Q21 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Asia-Pacific | 11 | 10 | 8 | 13 | 20 | 9 |
Europe | 3 | 1 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 7 |
Americas | 12 | 9 | 17 | 22 | 26 | 25 |
Global biotech financing
Partnerships dropped off as a funding source.
Global biotech venture capital investment
In the United States and Europe, risk capital still abounds.
Number of rounds
4Q19 | 1Q20 | 2Q20 | 3Q20 | 4Q20 | 1Q21 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Asia-Pacific | 25 | 15 | 23 | 31 | 35 | 23 |
Europe | 42 | 42 | 40 | 50 | 38 | 41 |
Americas | 100 | 99 | 107 | 102 | 86 | 132 |
IPOs
Company (principal underwriters) | Amount raised ($ millions) | Date completed | Focus | Change in stock price (as of 4/8/2021) | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Sana Biotechnology (Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan, BofA Securities) | 676 | 3 February | Gene and cell therapy; preclinical | –11% | United States |
Prestige Biopharma (Samsung Securities) | 405 | 5 February | Biosimilars | –42% | South Korea |
Instil Bio (Morgan Stanley, Jefferies, Cowen, Truist Securities) | 368 | 18 March | TIL; preclinical | –15% | United States |
Design Therapeutics (Goldman Sachs, SVB Leerink, Piper Sandler) | 276 | 25 March | Preclinical | –20% | United States |
Immunocore (Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan, Jefferies | 258 | 4 February | TCR | –18% | United Kingdom |
Cullinan Oncology (Morgan Stanley, SVB Leerink, Evercore ISI, H.C. Wainwright) | 250 | 7 January | mAbs; clinical | 7% | United States |
Suzhou Connect Biopharma (Jefferies, SVB Leerink, Piper Sandler, China International Capital) | 220 | 18 March | mAbs; clinical | –6% | China |
Prometheus Biosciences (SVB Leerink, Credit Suisse, Stifel, Nicolaus, Guggenheim Securities) | 219 | 11 March | Precision medicine; clinical | –8% | United States |
Gracell Biotechnologies (Citigroup, Jefferies, Piper Sandler, Wells Fargo) | 209 | 8 January | CAR-T; clinical | –44% | China |
Vor Biopharma (Goldman Sachs, Evercore ISI, Barclays Capital, Stifel, Nicolaus | 203 | 5 February | Cell therapy, anti-CD33 CAR-T; preclinical | –10% | United States |
Venture capital
Company (lead investors) | Amount raised ($ millions) | Round | Date completed | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
ElevateBio (Matrix Capital Management, EDBI, Emerson Collective and others) | 525 | C | 15 March | United States |
EQRx (Arch Venture Partners, Andreessen Horowitz, GV and others) | 500 | B | 11 January | United States |
Insitro (CPP Investment Board, Andreessen Horowitz, SoftBank Vision Fund and others) | 400 | C | 15 March | United States |
Centessa Pharmaceuticals (General Atlantic, Vida Ventures, Janus Henderson Investors and others) | 250 | A | 16 February | United States |
Clover Biopharmaceuticals (Temasek Holdings, GL Ventures and others) | 230 | C | 22 February | China |
Tessera Therapeutics (Alaska Permanent Fund, Altitude Life Science Ventures, SoftBank Vision Fund and others) | 230 | B | 12 January | United States |
Affinivax (Rock Springs Capital, Foresite Capital, EcoR1 Capital and others) | 226 | C | 8 January | United States |
Valo Health (PSP Investments, HBM Healthcare Investments, Flagship Pioneering and others) | 190 | B | 11 January | United States |
AffaMed Therapeutics (Lake Bleu Capital, Partners Investment Group, Superstring Capital and others) | 170 | B | 9 September | China |
Vaccitech (M&G Investments, Monaco Constitutional Reserve Fund, Tencent Holdings and others) | 168 | B | 17 March | United Kingdom |
Mergers and acquisitions
Target | Acquirer | Value ($ millions) | Date announced |
|---|---|---|---|
Kymab | Sanofi | 1,100 | 11 January |
Oxford Immunotec | PerkinElmer | 591 | 7 January |
Resolution Bioscience | Agilent Technologies | 550 | 2 March |
GigaGen | Grifols | 80a | 9 March |
Oncoceutics | Chimerix | 39 | 8 January |
Licensing/collaboration
Researcher | Partner | Up-front cash ($ millions) | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
BeiGene | Novartis | 650 | BeiGene grants Novartis rights in North America, Europe and Japan to develop and commercialize tislelizumab, a humanized IgG4 anti–PD-1 monoclonal antibody (mAb) designed to minimize binding to Fcγ receptor on macrophages |
Ovid Therapeutics | Takeda Pharmaceutical | 196 | Takeda secures exclusive, worldwide rights from Ovid to develop and commercialize soticlestat, an oral cholesterol 24-hydroxylase (CH24H) inhibitor for the treatment of Dravet syndrome and Lennox–Gastaut syndrome in children and adults |
Genevant Sciences | Gritstone Oncology | 192 | Genevant grants Gritstone non-exclusive rights to LNP technology to develop and commercialize self-amplifying RNA vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 |
Ensoma | Takeda | 100 | Ensoma grants Takeda exclusive, worldwide rights to Engenious engineered adenoviral vectors for up to five rare-disease indications |
CureVac | GlaxoSmithKline | 90 | GSK and CureVac partner to develop next-generation mRNA COVID-19 vaccines |
Genevant Sciences | Sarepta Therapeutics | 50 | Sarepta and Genevant partner to develop LNP-based gene editing therapeutics |
Merus | Eli Lilly | 40 | Eli Lilly partners with Merus to research and develop up to three CD3-engaging T-cell-redirecting bispecific mAb therapies for the treatment of cancer |
Gritstone Oncology | Gilead Sciences | 30 | Gilead partners with Gritstone in exclusive option and license agreement to develop an HIV-specific therapeutic vaccine using Gritstone’s personalized antigen-based prime–boost vaccine platform |
Turning Point Therapeutics | Zai Lab | 25 | Turning Point grants Zai Lab exclusive rights to develop and commercialize TPX-0022, a small-molecule multi-tyrosine kinase inhibitor of colony-stimulating factor-1 receptor (CSF1R), MET and SRC in greater China |
Asahi Kasei Pharma | Eli Lilly | 20 | Asahi Kasei Pharma grants Eli Lilly exclusive rights to AK1780, an oral central nervous system–penetrating, small-molecule, purinergic type 2 X7 (P2X7) receptor selective antagonist for treating neuropathic pain |
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DeFrancesco, L. 1Q21—thirst for preclinical biotechs unquenched. Nat Biotechnol 39, 538–539 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41587-021-00918-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41587-021-00918-3
