First
Quarter 2004 Sees Health Care Venture Capital Investments Skyrocket
According to Jenks Healthcare Business Report
NEW CANAAN, CT –April 30, 2004
– During the first quarter ended March 31,
2004, total venture capital investments in the health care markets reached
$2.03 billion, representing a 73.5% increase in dollar volume over the first
quarter of 2003. According to the Jenks Healthcare Business Report,
which tracks private and public equity deals in health care, 97 investments
totaling $2.03 billion were reported during the first quarter 2004,
resulting in an average deal size of $20.9 million. During the same period
last year, the average deal size was $13.96 million, with 84 investments
reported totaling just $1.17 billion; the deal volume reported has increased
15.5% since the year-ago quarter.
This quarter pharmaceutical, biotechnology and
biopharmaceutical companies got the most attention from VC firms. The six
investments that received the most capital this quarter were Jazz
Pharmaceuticals with $250.0 million; Attentus Healthcare with $77.0 million;
AlgoRx Pharmaceuticals with $65.0 million; EXIMIAS with $63.5 million; and
Peninsula Pharmaceuticals and Aspreva Pharmaceuticals, with $57.0 million
each.
“Despite
a shaky IPO market, private equity investors continue to be interested in
the health care sector,” commented Stephen M. Monroe, a partner at Irving
Levin Associates. “Although several IPOs in the sector have been priced
below range or withdrawn from the public market during the past few months,
health care companies are receiving substantial support from the private
market,” Mr. Monroe continued. Active venture capital firms
this quarter included Versant Ventures, Alta
Partners, InterWest Partners and Burrill & Company. The most active venture
firms this quarter, making five or more investments, are ranked in the chart
below. |
|
About Jenks Healthcare
Business Report:
The monthly
newsletter Jenks Healthcare Business Report and its companion
annual report, The Health Care Venture Capital Report, are published
by Irving Levin Associates, Inc., a leading health care financial publisher
established in 1948. The Firm has headquarters in New Canaan, CT and is
online at
www.levinassociates.com. This privately held corporation publishes
research reports and newsletters, and maintains merger and acquisition
databases, on the health care and senior housing markets. For more
information on Jenks Healthcare Business Report, please call
1-800-248-1668.
Click here to get more information or to order any of our
Publications.
Back to top |
