Hot Life Science Investor Mandate 2: US Based VC Seeking Seed and Series A Therapeutic Opportunities

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A US based venture capital fund is looking to make seed and series A stage investments into life science companies with investments ranging anywhere from $500,000 initially to $25 million over the lifetime of the investment. The firm is actively reviewing opportunities throughout the United States and could make as many as 6 investments over the next year.

Within the life science space the firm is primarily focused on therapeutics. Within therapeutics the firm is opportunistic in terms of technology type and is open to both single asset and platform technology companies. The firm is most interest in companies targeting white space indications and is generally less interest in highly crowded areas including diabetes, Alzheimer’s and solid tumors. The firm is primarily interest in pre-clinical companies however they are open to later stage technologies as well pending it is a series A round or earlier.

The firm is looking for companies with experienced management teams and is very open to working with incomplete management teams. The firm looks to act as an active value adding investor and requires a board seat following investment.

If you are interested in more information about this investor and other investors tracked by LSN, please email mandates@lifesciencenation.com

Hot Life Science Investor Mandate 3: Chinese VC Seeking Early Stage Devices, Diagnostics, Materials and Health IT

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A venture capital firm that that is based China with additional offices in Asia and the US currently manages over $750 million in committed capital across 7 funds. The most recent fund closed at $110 million in 2011 focuses on making equity investments into early-stage companies in Technology, Clean Technology and Healthcare sectors. The typical investment size ranges from $5 million to $15 million. The firm primarily looks to invest in companies based in China and US.

The firm is currently looking for new investment opportunities in Diagnostics, Medical Devices, Healthcare IT and Advanced Materials sectors. The firm is very opportunistic in terms of subsectors and indications, and is open to all classes of devices. The firm prefers to invest companies in pre-clinical and clinical stage, but it is open to consider companies with products on the market. Historically, the firm was active in companies developing diagnostic services and instrumentation, fetal monitoring and ultrasound systems, and vascular closure devices.

The firm invests in both private and public companies with a strong management team. The firm doesn’t have specific requirements for companies’ revenue or EBITDA. The firm looks to take a Board seat post investment.

If you are interested in more information about this investor and other investors tracked by LSN, please email mandates@lifesciencenation.com

LSN Announces RESI Partnering Platform

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By Alejandro Zamorano, VP of Business Development, LSN

Alejandro 10*10

LSN is proud to announce the RESI Partnering Platform. The goal is to have a dynamic partnering platform to match biotech and medtech companies with the investors that are a fit and provide an opportunity to create a compelling dialogue that fosters a long-term relationship. LSN designed the RESI Partnering Platform from the ground up by leveraging an innovative partnering portal provider called Meeting Mojo. Click the video below to see how the RESI Partnering Platform can help your partnering efforts.

Considering the sheer quantity and diversity of investors attending RESI, paired with the power of the RESI Partnering Platform, the RESI conference is the right place for early stage life science companies to meet investors that are a fit. We hope to see you there.

Funding Gaps Continue to Spell Opportunity for Those with Capital

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By Michael Quigley, Director of Research, LSN

mike-2Just over a year ago I published an article discussing how the growth rate of seed and startup stage life science financing rounds was substantially smaller than all other financing rounds. More recent data pulled from the LSN’s Company Platform further validates that claim. Exhibit 1 compares the number of seed and startup stage financing rounds to the total number of financings in the US life science space over the past 9 years.

Exhibit 1
Exhibit 1

 

Exhibit 1 demonstrates that, as said by Alexis Borisy (a partner with life science VC firm Third Rock Ventures), “In the overall numbers, early stage life science investment isn’t growing compared to later stage investments.” The disparity in growth between these two variables presents a serious threat to large pharma companies, and provides savvy investors with an opportunity for strong returns. If this trend continues over time, the demand for later stage and more developed technologies will grow to be significantly greater than the supply. Large pharma companies are constantly looking to in-license and acquire technologies for their pipelines in order to protect future revenue streams as patents expire and better treatments become available, threatening their market share. However if there are not enough of these early stage companies getting funded today, then down the road pipelines will go dry.

By investing in early stage research today, investors could position themselves to have great exit potential to large pharma companies who, if this gap goes unfilled, will be suffering from painfully dry pipelines. Interestingly enough, large pharma companies seem to be well aware of this threat and have become a major funding source for early stage companies through the establishment of corporate venture capital arms. Many of these companies are also now investing in entirely separate venture capital and private equity funds with hopes that they will yield financial returns as well as funding the development of strategically relevant technologies. Other types of investors are also gaining interest in early stage life science companies as well, though their motivations vary across the spectrum from philanthropic to financial.

As a life science entrepreneur, it is important to understand what the long-term strategic opportunities for your assets will look like. While the recent IPO window has shown significant exit potential via public market interest in the life science space, there is significant uncertainty surrounding how long it will remain a viable option. However, the seemingly insufficient investment in early stage rounds for life science companies today could make the future exit possibilities for your asset very attractive to potential investors.

RESI Double Panel Announcement: Foundations & CROs

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By Tom Crosby, RESI Conference Manager, LSN

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A New Model for Foundations: Non-Profit to For-Profit Panel

In the past, non-profit organizations dedicated to research in specific disease areas were typically unable to take advantage of the upside of any significant discoveries that were funded through their organization. Recently, a new trend has emerged: non-profit organizations investing in early stage biotech/medtech companies in return for equity. This new way of investing provides the foundation the ability to reinvest their profits, providing additional capital to fund future research.

 Moderated by David Sandak, Vice President, Research at Accelerate Brain Cancer Cure, the audience will hear from:

Panelists will speak to their experience with the new model. What’s different about vetting a company with returns in mind? How has for-profit investing changed their non-profit model? What are the best practices for a fundraising executive approaching a foundation with an investment opportunity? Panelists will discuss these topics and more as they shed light on the inner workings of receiving capital placements from foundations.

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Investing in Emerging Life Sciences: CRO Direct Investment Panel

This panel features CROs that are leveraging their internal expertise to make investments into emerging biotech and medical device companies, either in the form of cash or service-for-equity agreements.

Moderated by Peter Lee-Armandt of Sathguru Management Consultants, the audience will hear from:

This new form of investor is becoming more common place in the life science as CROs continue to mature and play a growing role in the industry. In this session, hear from firms that are on the leading edge of innovation talk about how they structure service for equity agreements. What kind of risk they are willing to take? What phase of development do they like to participate in? How do they vet potential companies, and how do they work with existing investors? What do they see as the future of their hybrid investment arm?

Hot Life Science Investor Mandate 1: Global Tech Giant Seeking Connected Devices and Healthcare IT Opportunities

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A Global High-tech companies makes equity investments and is seeking strategic partnerships with early-stage companies. The firm’s equity investments are typically of $1-3 million although the firm is very capable of making allocation outside this range as well.

Within the life science space the firm focuses on the backend of connected healthcare, with the goal of using communications technology to enable a network of care, with the patient at the center using devices to share information with healthcare professionals and with family members and other careers. The firm is therefore investing primarily in medical devices and lab equipment that transmit information wirelessly, particularly those that bring innovation to hospitals and clinics. The firm generally does not invest in equipment used in very complex wet chemistry (such as assay equipment) but is otherwise open to considering any innovations involving transmitting data from devices in the healthcare and biotech R&D equipment field. The firm is also open to healthcare IT opportunities. In addition to wireless data transmission, the firm’s technological focus in the healthcare field includes very small vital sensors and variable power technologies that can deliver increased battery life. The firm prefers to invest in technologies that are at commercialization stage or close to approval, but earlier stage opportunities may be of interest. While the firm will consider any indication, elder care is of particular interest, and the firm also has programs in the consumer health, wellness and beauty fields.

The firm only invests in companies that are interested in a long-term strategic partnership with the firm.

If you are interested in more information about this investor and other investors tracked by LSN, please email mandates@lifesciencenation.com

Hot Life Science Investor Mandate 2: Corporate VC Arm of Multinational CRO Looking Opportunistically in the Life Science Space

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The corporate venture capital arm of a global science-based company active in health, nutrition and materials is looking The firm makes equity investments into seed and venture stage companies. The firm makes allocations ranging from a few hundred thousand dollars to $5 million initially with additional capital held for future financing rounds. The firm is looking make approximately 5-10 investments over the next 6-9 months with +10 being made over the next 2 years. The firm invests in companies located around the globe with a focus on the U.S., Europe and Israel.

The firm is looking for companies in the intersection of Life and Materials Sciences. These includes companies developing devices and materials targeting indications of cardiovascular, orthopedics, ophthalmology, dental, drug delivery and next generation cellular therapy. The firm is also interested in companies in the Agbio and nutraceutical spaces. While the firm has invested in companies all the way from seed to 3-month pre-IPO, they generally invest into companies that do not yet have a product on the market.

The firm highly values experience in a firm’s management team and generally looks to take a board seeks and play an active role in its portfolio companies. The firm is looking for companies that are in cooperation/alignment with the parent business.

If you are interested in more information about this investor and other investors tracked by LSN, please email mandates@lifesciencenation.com