Life sciences venture funding reached an all-time high in the first quarter of 2007, with 36% of total investments going toward the sector. Medical device companies contributed $1.08 billion in 96 deals, which marks a 60% improvement over the last quarter of 2006. Biotechnology was the single largest sector, with $1.5 billion going into 102 deals. “Biotech and medical device companies require a substantial amount of capital to get through the regulatory process and the VC industry is responding to this demand,” said Mark Heesen, president of the National Venture Capital Association, which issued the report with PricewaterhouseCoopers and Thompson Financial.
The report, called MoneyTree, shows that money flowed into life sciences in the first quarter despite the the sector’s long-term investment cycle. “Life sciences is so long term that once you start out, they are going to take a long time to come to fruition,” Heesen told The San Francisco Chronicle. He noted, though, “You have an aging population and a population that is willing to pay to stay well.”
Venture funding was up overall in the first quarter, with $7.1 billion being invested in 778 deals industry wide. The MoneyTree Report says that’s the highest level of per-quarter funding since the fourth of 2001.