Beyond Borders: Global biotechnology report 2010

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European yearly biotech financings, 1999–2009
6
5
4
3
2
1
Venture IPOs Follow-ons Other
0
1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
Source: Ernst & Young, BioCentury, BioWorld, VentureSource, Windhover and company news via NewsAnalyzer
above is excluded). Thus, while the pace
of start-up activity is robust in Europe,
these companies start life with far less
capital than their US counterparts. This
clearly puts a premium on capital-efficient
R&D strategies, but it also suggests the
possibility of a lower bar around company
formation in Europe, with investors
preferring to mete out capital in much
smaller amounts.
The largest venture round in Europe was
the €41 million (US$57 million) raised
by Geneva-based NovImmune, which
is developing therapeutic monoclonal
antibodies. The round included an
investment by Novartis Ventures.
Germany’s Probiodrug raised €36
million (US$50 million) to continue its
development of products to address
neurodegenerative and inflammatory
diseases, including Alzheimer’s. Other
significant rounds included Denmark’s
Symphogen (€33 million, US$46 million),
Switzerland’s Molecular Partners (€30
million, US$42.5 million) and Evolva (€29
million, US$40.4 million), and Spain’s
Cellerix (€27 million, US$37.6 million).
Evolva subsequently completed a reverse
merger with Arpida, Ltd., and listed its
shares on the Swiss Exchange.
Geographic distribution
While Europe is a “common market,”
with investments regularly flowing across
borders, it is interesting to note that the
21% decrease in venture capital investing
did not hit all countries equally. Switzerland
actually achieved a 57% increase in venture
capital investment, whereas France
(down 49%), Germany (down 60%), the
Netherlands (down 49%) and the United
Kingdom (down 17%) all suffered significant
declines. Amazingly, if one excludes
Probiodrug’s financing, German biotechs
raised only about €42.6 million (US$59.4
million) in all of 2009.
Overall, the Netherlands and Ireland led in
total financings because of the previously
mentioned QIAGEN and Elan transactions
(while QIAGEN has its headquarters in
the Netherlands, substantial operations
are in Germany). The UK led in the total
number of rounds and was third in overall
financings, trailing only Switzerland in
venture capital raised.
Canada
In 2009, the Canadian biotechnology
industry raised slightly more than US$733
million, an increase of US$255 million
compared to 2008. Public companies raised
about US$633 million, a US$362 million
increase over 2008. However, this money
went to a relatively small set of companies,
with one transaction — the US$325 million
debentures issue by Biovail — accounting
for 44% of the total amount raised by the
Canadian yearly biotechnology financings, 2000–09 (US$m)
2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000
IPOs 0 0 5 9 160 85 0 10 42 103
Follow-ons 138 80 580 925 295 296 723 186 621 364
Other 495 191 122 664 242 139 416 132 155 258
Venture 100 207 353 205 313 271 206 199 388 546
Total 733 478 1,060 1,803 1,010 791 1,345 527 1,206 1,271
Source: Ernst & Young, Canadian Biotech News and company websites
Numbers may appear inconsistent because of rounding.
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