By Max Klietmann, VP of Marketing, LSN
LSN’s investor research group maintains quarterly contact with over 5,000 active investors in the life science space. In recent history, LSN has focused on tracking the plethora of new investor categories entering the life science arena filling the void left by Venture Capital. In this edition of the LSN Newsletter, we will be taking a look at some interesting statistics surrounding the new investor categories LSN tracks, and their preferences within the early stage biotech space.
The chart below shows the results of an LSN Investor Database search mapping out all non-venture capital investors tracked by LSN with a declared interest – or mandate – in seed/venture stage therapeutic companies with an asset in Discovery, Lead Optimization, Preclinical or Phase I clinical trials. The result is 875 investors globally. The LSN Research Team uncovers 40-50 new investor mandates per week.
One of the most interesting pieces of data gleaned from LSN’s analysis is the overwhelming number of investors with an opportunistic orientation towards early stage technologies (roughly 34% of investors). This shows that for many non-VC early stage investors, especially private equity, other factors are of primary interest (e.g. management team or therapeutic subsector).
When it comes to disease mandate-driven investors (i.e. investors driven by a specific indication) top indications of interest are generally aligned with major disease areas with significant market opportunity. These include cancer – (over 29%!), diseases of the nervous system (e.g. ALS, MS, Alzheimers), infectious diseases, cardiovascular disease and endocrine (diabetes).
So what’s the big deal? First of all – The data shows that non-VC investors are certainly showing interest in early stage biotech, which validates many of LSN’s anecdotal market insights. Second, it shows that even though about 34% of these investors are opportunistic, many have clear mandates in a space that is highly strapped for capital. If you’re looking to raise money, especially in one of the top therapeutic areas shown, these investors should certainly be on your radar. Stay tuned as LSN continues to offer insights on the changing investor landscape.
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