Venture Capital Funding Quarterly
Biotechnology • Pharmaceuticals • Medical Devices
3rd Quarter, 2009 – United States
Published by: VentureDeal
Summary
Life Science companies secured $1.89 billion in venture capital financing during the third quarter of 2009, representing a 5% decrease versus the second quarter of 2009. This reverses the upward trend of funding for the three sectors of Biotechnology, Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices. The funding was allocated between 174 companies, a 5% decrease versus the previous quarter in the aggregate.
The Medical Device sector continued to receive the most amount of funding by a significant margin, raising $712 million among 71 companies. The Pharmaceuticals sector came in second with $649 million, representing a 37% increase versus the previous quarter and continuing its previous upward trend. Biotechnology startups received $529 million between 58 companies, an 18% decrease in amounts funded.
Funding Activity
Biotechnology
Biotechnology funding reversed its previous upward trend by posting decreased funding amounts while the number of companies funded dropped by 3% versus the previous quarter. The largest venture financing during the quarter was the Pacific BioSciences $68 million series E funding round from a large syndicate of strategic, venture capital and private equity investors. The company is developing therapies for a variety of diseases using gene sequencing technologies.
Woburn, Massachusetts-based AdvanDx completed a third round of funding, receiving $8 million from Scandinavian SLS Ventures and other undisclosed investors. The company said that the funding would be used to expand its molecular in-vitro diagnostics product offering and its international sales and marketing efforts.