Gene Therapy Deals, M&A, and Venture Funding

Gene therapy deals, R&D partnerships, and acquisitions have been showing annual gains through 2018 and are on track to keep up the record in 2019. The recent approval of Novartis’ Zolgensma gene therapy for spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) was a good chance to look at the business development behind what are now looking like high-priced treatments. Data from the DealForma database and an analysis were prepared for a story published in Endpoints News.

We covered dealmaking, venture funding, M&A, and academic partnerships specifically looking at R&D for gene therapies and related vector technologies. We did not include gene editing in this focused analysis, nor recombinant DNA/RNA, cell therapies, or biologics.

This gave us an initial set of 256 academic partnerships, M&A, and corporate biopharma deals form January 2008 to June 14, 2019 among the broader set of 16,000+ deals. Add to that the 120 venture rounds in gene therapy focused biotech companies since 2010. Highlights below: 

Interesting Takeaways

• 114 Corporate R&D deals; Over $1 billion in upfront cash and equity; $18 billion in deal value
• 27 Acquisitions; $18 billion up front; $20 billion in total value
• 115 University/foundation partnerships, grants, spin-offs; $100 million in upfront cash; $300 million in total value, plus $2 billion in total value for the 2016 Biogen/Upenn partnership
• 120 Venture rounds from Seed through Series A and beyond up to IPO
• $5 billion raised since 2010 with half of that in the last 18 months
• Over $3 billion to companies with only a platform or preclinical therapy

DealForma Datasets

• Biopharma Deals – R&D and commercialization deals for gene therapy and related vector technology platforms (adeno-associated viral (AAV) vectors, lentiviral vectors), preclinical and later compounds (Phase I, Phase II, Phase III, and Approved). A full list of criteria is available in the DealForma platform.
• Mergers & Acquisitions – Active and completed M&A deals for gene therapy and vector companies. Excludes terminated deals.
• Academic Research Partnerships and Grants – Gene therapy patent licenses, research grant programs, and sponsored research programs.
• Venture Funding – Seed and Series A through F and beyond (pre-IPO) venture funding of gene therapy and vector-focused companies. Excludes loans and debt financing.

Story Published in Endpoints News: Read the full story with all of the charts

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