Health Care Venture Capital Deal Flow is Steady in Q1:09, According To Healthcare Corporate Finance News

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Stephen M. Monroe, Partner
Gretchen S. Swanson, Associate Editor
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Norwalk, CT - April 16, 2009—During the quarter ended March 31, 2009, the health care venture capital market produced 100 transactions totaling $1.83 billion, which represents just slightly less funding and only three fewer deals than the year-ago quarter. Also, the median ($11.6 million) and the average size ($18.3 million) of health care venture capital rounds announced during Q1:09 are both nearly the same as for the year-ago quarter.
 

Health Care Venture Capital Investments, First Quarter
Ended March 31, 2009
Sector
Number of Deals
Dollar Amount (in millions)
Pharmaceuticals
18
$574.3
Biopharmaceuticals
20
$459.5
Medical Devices
23
$381.5
Biotechnology
25
$320.5
e-Health
9
$62.3
Health Care Services & Other
5
$33.8
Total
100
$1,831.9

 
Four privately held health care companies announced investment rounds of $50 million or more during Q1:09. The largest deal announced during the quarter was a $200 million investment in newly formed Actient Pharmaceuticals, which secured a $200 million commitment from GTCR. Sopherion Therapeutics announced the second-largest deal
of the quarter, a $55 million investment from Zoticon Bioventures.
 
“Activity during the first quarter of 2009 is relatively level with the four preceding quarters, both in terms of total dollars raised and number of deals, indicating some steadiness in this market,” commented Gretchen S. Swanson, Editor of  Healthcare Corporate Finance News.
Stephen M. Monroe, Managing Editor, added, “In the current economy, the health care venture capital market is getting a slice of a smaller pie, because institutional investors have suffered losses and are rebalancing their portfolios across all asset classes.”
 
The most active venture capital firms of the quarter, based on publicly announced transactions, participated in four or more rounds. These firms are listed below.
 

Top Health Care Venture Capital Investors, Q1:09
Firm
Number of Investments
MPM Capital
5
Polaris Ventures
5
Versant Ventures
5
Johnson & Johnson/JNJ Development Corp.
4
Novartis funds
4
Oxford Bioscience
4
SV Life Sciences
4

Numerous firms participated in three health care venture capital rounds during Q1:09, including Essex Woodlands Health Ventures, New Enterprise Associates, Forbion Capital Partners and Venrock Associates. Strategic investors that participated in deals during the quarter include Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, BlueCross BlueShield Ventures, GlaxoSmithKline, Lilly Ventures and Medtronic.

Healthcare Corporate Finance Newsreports weekly on financial events in the fast-paced venture capital, private and public equity, and merger and acquisition markets for health care companies, and provides subscribers with access to a searchable online database of health care venture capital deals.  This monthly newsletter and weekly email update is published by Irving Levin Associates, Inc., a leading financial publisher and source of market intelligence since 1948.  For more information, please call 1-800-248-1668.    

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