Will Private Vaccine Companies Follow VaxInnate's Lead?
This article was originally published in Start Up
Executive Summary
It may be true that nothing succeeds like success, but it seems just as true that nothing sells as well as fear. In the case of the recent swine-flu scare, the most immediate valuation impact was felt by a number of publicly held biotechs focused on the flu vaccine space. Companies like Novavax Inc., BioCryst Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Vical Inc. all enjoyed rising fortunes during the brief "aporkalypse." Private companies too have seemingly taken advantage of the heightened awareness of seasonal flu dangers. VaxInnate Inc. raised $30 million in a Series D round in early May for various ongoing projects, including the start of preclinical study of a swine flu vaccine.
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Pharmaceutical/Biotechnology Deal Statistics Quarterly, Q2 2009
Highlights from the Q2 2009 review of pharmaceutical and biotechnology dealmaking: In biopharma financing, the FOPO had a comeback bringing in $773 million with 11 transactions--a deal volume the public markets haven't achieved since Q1 2008. Cephalon and Dendreon led the pack, each with follow-on offerings exceeding the $100 million mark. There weren't the mega Big Pharma mergers done in previous months, however, there was a clear interest in generics as witnessed by Sanofi-Aventis' buyouts of two generics firms, and Watson and Novartis also getting in on the action, each through $1 billion+ acquisitions in this arena as well. As far as alliances were concerned, the top spot belongs to GlobeImmune, which granted Celgene exclusive worldwide rights to its {Targomen} cancer programs (including two clinical-stage candidates) in exchange for a potential $540 million pay day.Q2 also saw many companies shifting therapeutic focus to in-license products and candidates new to them in order to revive pipelines and beef up portfolios.
Start-Ups Set Sights on Flu
The swine flu/H1N1 pandemic presents a lucrative opportunity for drug developers and Big Pharmas won't be the only firms to capitalize on the sudden multibillion-dollar opportunity. There's evidence that the pandemic is driving investors to flu-focused biotechs as well. In this issue, we profile four emerging companies that hope to reap the rewards of what should continue to be a promising fund-raising environment for potentially novel flu therapies.