PwC: Life Sciences Venture Capital investing posts gains

By Rob Starr, Content Manager, Big4.com

Venture capital (VC) funding in the Life Sciences sector, which includes the Biotechnology and Medical Device industries, gained in Q3 in terms of dollars compared to the second quarter of 2012, but the sector still trended downward for the year, according to a new PwC US report, “Biotech bounce,” that includes data from the PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP/National Venture Capital Association MoneyTree™ Report, based on data from Thomson Reuters.

In Q3, Medical Device investments dropped to the lowest dollar level since 2004 and fell to sixth place among all industries for the quarter, a big drop from being the second largest industry category in the prior quarter.  With $434 million going into 65 deals in Q3, investments into the Medical Device industry dropped 37 percent in dollars and 27 percent in deals from Q2 2012.  On a year-over-year basis, dollars invested fell 42 percent in dollars and 27 percent in deals..

During the third quarter of 2012, 32 Life Sciences companies received venture capital funding for the first time, capturing $170 million. This represents a decrease of 30 percent in dollars invested and no change in the number of deals compared to the third quarter of 2011. First-time deals in the Life Sciences sector averaged $5.3 million in the third quarter of 2012 compared with an average deal size of $7.5 million in the third quarter of 2011.