Raising capital has always been a challenge for small to medium biotech firms worldwide, but the economic whiplash and the wider downturn across international markets post-pandemic have pushed Chinese biotechs to make-it-or-break-it scenarios for crossing the IPO threshold, speakers at the Chinabio Partnering Forum 2023 said in Shanghai.
“Why do the top 10 pharmaceutical companies remain in the top 10?” asked Li Chen, founder and CEO of Hua Medicine, to audience members at the Chinabio Partnering Forum in Shanghai on Sept. 20. “[It comes down to] their ability to innovate themselves, but also the capability to acquire technology from partnerships, [to] manufacture and sell in countries like the U.S."
It’s been a tough year for raising biotech money, according to the new U.K. Biotech Financing Report, but there are bright spots in an otherwise dark period. What happened last year in the U.K. basically mirrored what happened with global financings as IPOs are significantly down while venture capital rounds stood strong.
China saw $28.5 billion invested in its life sciences sector in 2020, which was double the previous year’s amount and sets a five-year high. Partnering activities and IPOs also grew exponentially over the last five years to set records.
A survey of nearly 100 biotech companies by the Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO) has found the industry still has important work to do before achieving overall gender parity and racial diversity, especially in executive and board roles. While showing "progress in some areas, we know that as an industry, we can do better," said Helen Torley, chair of BIO’s Workforce Development, Diversity and Inclusion (WDDI) Committee and president and CEO of Halozyme Therapeutics Inc.
Throughout the year we have published the views of company executives, government regulators, industry analysts and scientists on a variety of topics and, in our popular annual feature, we include a selection of these that paints a picture of the significant events that shaped 2019.
BEIJING – The ongoing trade war between the U.S. and China has helped put the biotechnology field on the U.S. foreign investment restriction list, causing a chilling effect on the market. With the amount of Chinese money entering the U.S. biotech sector dropping sharply, many believe it is the U.S. that is taking the hit in this sector.
SEOUL – After a decade of steady increases, venture capital (VC) investments in South Korea's biotech sector are more active. But for the country's strategic financial plan to be sustainable, it will have to further strengthen its science capabilities, according to experts at the Korea Bio Investment Conference (KBIC) last week in Seoul.
TAIPEI, Taiwan – Asian capital continues to play a key role in funding biotech development regionally and globally through private investments, M&A deals or IPOs. And 2018 was a particularly exciting one for cross-border investments and health care IPOs, said speakers at the BIO Asia conference. The total deal value of global biopharma IPOs and M&A deals hit a record $49 billion in 2018.
TAIPEI, Taiwan – The three-day 2019 BIO Asia-Taiwan Conference and Exhibition opened on Wednesday to discuss how biotechnology could be the next growth engine for Asia. While figures are suggesting Asia is rising as a biotech powerhouse, the region needs to think beyond just capital, talent and patient pool, speakers said.
