Another Busy Quarter for Biotech as The Second Quarter 2000 Ends on a High Note Announcement of the Sequencing of the Human Genome Rekindles the Biotech Blaze
MONDAY, JULY 03, 2000 7:30 AM
- PRNewswire
SAN FRANCISCO, Jul 3, 2000 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- The second quarter of the "biotech century" started and ended with events typical of the unpredictable nature of the industry: just two weeks before the beginning of the quarter, President Clinton's and Prime Minister Blair's unnecessary comments on genomic patenting sent biotech stocks into a tail spin. However by the end of the quarter, Celera and the Human Genome Project announced that they had fully sequenced the human genome, claimed by many to be equal in importance to landing a man on the moon and/or the invention of the wheel.
"The biotech industry showed amazing resilience," said G. Steven Burrill, CEO of Burrill & Company, a San Francisco-based private merchant bank focused exclusively on life sciences. "Just within this one quarter, we've seen the industry lose $100 billion in market cap in a week (after the Clinton-Blair debacle), then just three months later, complete one of the industry's most successful IPO quarters in recent years."
During the second quarter of 2000, the industry raised $5.5 billion, a significant drop from the $12 billion raised in the first quarter, much of which resulted from the sell-off caused by the Clinton-Blair comments in March and the crash of technology stocks in general, that occurred during the quarter. Even so, 13 companies completed IPOs, raising $1.3 billion.
IPOs: More, More, More
Of the 18 companies in registration for IPOs at the end of the first quarter, all but 8 (Adolor, AtheroGenics, Centaur Pharmaceuticals, DrugAbuse Sciences, Esperion Therapeutics, First Horizon, Introgen Therapeutics, and Signal Pharmaceuticals) ended up completing their offerings during the second quarter. The biotech IPO window remained open throughout the quarter, with 13 companies completing IPOs (compared to 9 that completed theirs in the first quarter) raising a total of $1.3 billion, a 35 percent increase over the first quarter and a phenomenal 1,324 percent increase over the same quarter in 1999. But, investors were tough, moving from a seller's market in the first quarter (with high demand and great "pricing" for the issuers) to a buyers market in the second quarter, with pricing and capacity reduced. However, after-market performance for the IPOs was very good this quarter, and both companies (issuers) and investors ended the quarter happy.
The 13 companies that went public this quarter included:
Company IPO Date Offering Amount Price at %Change Market
Price Raised Qtr End Cap at Qtr
(in $M) (6/30/00) End
(in $M)
Lexicon
Genetics
(LEXG) 4/6/00 $22 $220.0 $34.38 56 $1633
Sangamo
Biosciences
(SGMO) 4/6/00 $15 52.5 $27.63 84 607
Tanox
(TNOX)* 4/6/00 $28 224.3 $47.31 69 2012
Exelixis
(EXEL)* 4/10/00 $13 136.0 $33.38 157 1481
Packard
Biosciences
(PBSC)* 4/19/00 $9 108.0 $17.00 89 1051
Praecis
(PRCS)* 4/26/00 $10 92.0 $27.88 179 1166
Genomic
Solutions
(GNSL)* 5/5/00 $8 61.3 $14.63 83 332
Orchid
Biosciences
(ORCH)* 5/4/00 $8 55.2 $37.97 375 1248
Paradigm
Genetics
(PDGM)* 5/5/00 $7 47.3 $12.19 74 313
ViroLogic
(VLGC) 5/1/00 $7 35.0 $14.88 113 293
Cepheid
(CPHD) 6/21/00 $6 30.0 $8.81 47 224
Dendreon
(DNDN) 6/15/00 $10 45.0 $16.56 66 343
Charles
River
Laboratories
(CRL) 6/23/00 $10 224.0 $22.19 122 717
SUMMARY 13 IPOs Avg. Total Avg. %.
Offr. Raised: Change:
Price: $1330.50 116
$12
* includes over-allotments to IPOs
In Addition to IPOs ...
The number of secondaries was down significantly in the second quarter of 2000 compared to the first quarter: only $817 million was raised in follow-on activity, compared to the first quarter of 2000's follow-on activity ($3.9 billion). This was largely due to the drop in biotech stock prices following the Clinton-Blair comments and the technology downdraft in the markets in general.
Second quarter 2000 secondaries included:
2Q00 FOLLOW-ONS
COMPANY TICKER AMOUNT PRICE PRICE AT % CHANGE
SYMBOL RAISED AT 6/30/00
(in $US SECONDARY
Millions)
Andrx ADRX 295 $48.00 $63.91 25
Cubist
Pharmaceuticals CBST 95 $33.00 $49.25 49
SuperGen SUPG 66 $45.00 $36.25 -19
Corixa CRXA 64 $32.00 $42.94 34
Texas
Biotechnology TXB 63 $12.50 $19.25 54
Ribozyme
Pharmaceuticals RZYM 57 $18.00 $25.81 43
Aviron AVIR 50 $22.50 $30.88 37
Aradigm ARDM 46 $16.00 $17.50 9
Avigen AVGN 26 $26.00 $43.88 69
EntreMed ENMD 22 $22.00 $29.94 36
Trega
Biosciences TRGA 11 $2.97 $3.19 7
Tularik TLRK 10 $14.00 $29.50 111
Neose
Technologies* NTEC 10 $32.00 $42.06 31
Diacrin* DCRN 5 $11.50 $7.88 -31
TOTAL
FOR Q200
($US M) $817
*over-allotments to follow-ons
Venture capital continued to flow back into the industry (at a rate of approximately $600 million/quarter). "Notwithstanding all the hype regarding venture capital's love affair with the Internet, the steady flow of venture capital into biotech is good news for the industry," said Burrill. "As interest in the Internet wanes, we'll see more VC money come back into the industry."
Looking at the industry by market cap, the Burrill Life Sciences Indices show that the large-and mid-cap companies saw an average increase of 23 and 22 percent respectively for the quarter, with the small cap down about 5 percent (although the small-caps are still up almost 56% for the year). The reason for the small-cap downturn for the quarter is largely the result of a large number of the companies represented in the small-cap index are genomics companies, and some of them continued to feel the effects of President Clinton and Prime Minister Blair's comments in March.
All Capital Markets in a State of Flux
Stock prices were down in general during the quarter, reflecting investor concerns with inflation, interest rates, Internet profitability, and economic slow down. With a number of major stock indices down for the quarter (Nasdaq was down over 15 percent and both the Dow and the Russell 2000 were down almost 5 percent) it's not surprising that biotech too, had a volatile quarter. What is most surprising is that the biotech industry did as well as it did, in spite of having come out of a rough end to the first quarter, when the industry experienced such a dramatic loss in value ($100 billion during the middle week of March 2000).
Healthcare Reform: Round 2
In years past, Capitol Hill's discussions concerning healthcare reform, prescription drug pricing, and Medicare reorganization caused significant rancor in the industry, with pharma and biotech stocks taking a negative hit. "This being an election year, Washington lawmakers are again debating a host of healthcare issues, yet investors seem little concerned about the effect on biotech stocks," said Burrill, "It's clear that investors aren't as worried about legislation and drug pricing as they are about the industry's products and profitability."
M&A and Alliances
Generally, M&A activity was relatively quiet for the quarter. No megamergers were announced and most mergers were biotech/biotech. One significant merger, announced in the first quarter, was called off in the wake of a Justice Department investigation into the potential of creating a monopoly. At the end of May, Third Wave Technologies and PE Biosystems announced that the proposed $331-million merger was off and that each company was going to continue to pursue their own separate agendas.
Major Acquisitions in the Quarter Included:
Acquirer Acquired Value
($US Millions)
Perkin Elmer NEN Life Sciences $400
LJL BioSystems Molecular Devices 263
Epitope STC Technologies 251
Guilford Pharmaceuticals Gliatech 203
Maxim Pharmaceuticals Cytovia, Inc. 79
Discovery Partners Int'l. Axys Pharmaceuticals 60
Maxygen ProFound Pharma (Denmark) 53
CeNeS Pharmaceuticals plc Cambridge NeuroScience 44
The total monies raised from partnering deals was more than double in the second quarter of the year ($956 million for Q100 compared to $2.3 billion for Q200), due mainly to two very significant deals: the multi-year, mega-deal (6 years, $800 million) between Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX) and Novartis to discover, develop, and commercialize small molecule drugs directed at targets in the kinase protein family; and the Millennium-Aventis multi-year, multi-focus $450 million partnership.
Selected biotech/pharma alliances this quarter included:
Biotech Pharma Description Value
($US Millions)
Vertex Novartis Vertex will discover eight $800
small-molecule drugs (kinase
inhibitors) using its
chemogenomics technology.
Millenium Aventis A unique alliance comprising 450
Pharmaceuticals Pharma of 4 separate agreements:
Inflammation, Technology Development,
Technology Transfer and Equity
Investment
Celgene Novartis Worldwide development and 100
marketing rights for Attenade,
a chirally pure version of Ritalin
for ADHD
Avanir SmithKline SKB will handle U.S. and Canadian 25
Beecham sales, marketing, and manufacturing
of docosanol, a cold sore cream
Visible PE Licensing and collaboration 25
Genetics Biosystems agreement that gives Visible Genetics
access to selected PE Biosystems
IP and patents
Metabolex Parke-Davis Discovery and development of new 50
therapeutics to treat Type II
diabetes by counteracting insulin
resistance
Alliance Baxter Baxter gets manufacturing, sales and 50
Pharmaceuticals Healthcare distribution rights for Oxygent, a
chemical based oxygen carrier
Ligand Bristol-Myers To discover, design, and develop 9
Pharmaceuticals Squibb orally active compounds that
selectively modulate the
mineralocorticord receptor (MR).
The Quarter's Product News
The Food and Drug Administration was back in swing in the second quarter, approving a number of new drugs and indications. If the current trend continues (14 new drugs have already been approved in 2000), this year may become a banner year for FDA approvals. Some of the more noteworthy approvals and FDA activities during the second quarter of 2000 included:
* An FDA advisory panel recommended that the label for Immunex Corp.'s
Enbrel be expanded to include patients suffering from early, active
rheumatoid arthritis (RA).
* Aventis received approval to market Lantus for the treatment of Type I
and Type II diabetes.
* Once again, Xoma felt the sting of the FDA: its stock dropped 25
percent in April on news that the FDA felt the company did not have
sufficient data to file a BLA for Neuprex as a treatment for severe
meningococcemia.
* In May, the FDA gave The Medicines Co. approval to use Angiomax as an
anticoagulant in patients with unstable angina undergoing percutaneous
transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA).
* Geltex and partner Sankyo Parke-Davis received FDA approval for
Welchol, their lipid-lower agent.
Other News of Note
* In April 2000, a joint National Research Council and Congressional
report titled "Seeds of Opportunity: An assessment of the benefits,
safety and oversight of plant genomics and agricultural biotechnology"
declared that food and crops improved through biotechnology are safe.
In addition, the House noted that agricultural biotechnology "has
tremendous potential to reduce the environmental impact of farming,
provide better nutrition, and help feed a rapidly growing world
population."
* Also in April, French scientists announced that they had successfully
used gene therapy to treat three infants born to SCID (severe combined
immunodeficiency).
* The FDA proposed that developers of bioengineered foods and animal
feeds must notify the FDA four months prior to the intended marketing
of such products. In addition, proposals were made regarding labeling,
safety, and adulteration issues.
The Big Story
The quarter's big news story (and possibly one of the biggest news stories of history), so well covered by the national press, was the incredible human genome sequencing story. "While analogies were made to the invention of the wheel, the moon landing, and the creation of the world's first dictionary," said Burrill, "this discovery may overshadow all of mankind's other accomplishments by revolutionizing medicine, agriculture, and taking a major step toward improving the quality of life for people around the world."
"Even with all the media coverage, investors are ill-prepared to really understand which technologies, companies, and/or products will be the big winners from this enormously significant scientific achievement," continued Burrill. "Portfolio investing will be the key; picking individual winners right now will be tough."
Burrill & Company
Burrill & Company is a private merchant bank, focused exclusively on life science companies (biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, healthcare, related medical technologies, agricultural technologies, animal health, nutraceuticals, and bioprocess/biomaterials).
Venture Capital: The Burrill family of venture capital funds, with over $200 million under management, include the Burrill Biotechnology Capital Fund, the Burrill Agbio Capital Fund, the Burrill Animal Health Capital Fund, the Burrill Bioprocess/Biomaterials Capital Fund, the Burrill Nutraceuticals Capital Fund, and the Burrill Life Sciences Capital Fund.
Strategic Partnering: Burrill & Company's strategic partnering business involves close collaboration with life science companies seeking strategic partnerships to access markets, to broaden scope, and to augment scientific, technical, and development capabilities. Companies benefit from Burrill & Company's extensive networks and unique ability to structure partnerships to achieve maximum value.
Spinouts: Burrill & Company works closely with large life science companies to maximize value from internal assets by "partnering them" (spinning out) with other companies. These spinouts range from outright divestments, in which Burrill & Company manages an "auction" process, to strategic collaborations for drug or technology development, to the creation of entirely new companies around the technology or products being spun out.
Biotech Industry Fundraising
($ in Millions)
PUBLIC COMPANIES PRIVATE COS.
IPO Secondary Convertible Private Venture Other
Public Debt Capital
2Q00 $1331 $817 $13 $373 $638 $13
2Q99 $106 $76 $687 $169 $360 $23
1Q00 $1114 $3850 $3792 $1767 $653 $74
YTD00 $2445 $4667 $3805 $2140 $1291 $87
YTD99 $201 $134 $907 $370 $478 $165
1999 $670 $5757 $1371 $1178 $1015 $236
Biotech Industry Fundraising
($ in Millions)
(continued from above)
Financing Partnering(1) Total
Total
2Q00 $3207 $2306 $5513
2Q99 $1421 $1109 $2530
1Q00 $10998 $956 $11954
YTD00 $14205 $3262 $17467
YTD99 $2255 $2670 $4925
1999 $10227 $5290 $15517
(1) Partnering figures based on upfront payments and equity investments
only for disclosed transactions.
SOURCE Burrill & Company
CONTACT: John Buchanan of Burrill & Company, 415-743-3168, or fax,
415-743-3161, or johnb@b-c.com; or Juling Chao of Burns McClellan, Inc.,
415-352-6262, or fax, 415-352-6263, or jchao@sf.burnsmc.com, for Burrill &
Company
MONDAY, JULY 03, 2000 7:30 AM
- PRNewswire
SAN FRANCISCO, Jul 3, 2000 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- The second quarter of the "biotech century" started and ended with events typical of the unpredictable nature of the industry: just two weeks before the beginning of the quarter, President Clinton's and Prime Minister Blair's unnecessary comments on genomic patenting sent biotech stocks into a tail spin. However by the end of the quarter, Celera and the Human Genome Project announced that they had fully sequenced the human genome, claimed by many to be equal in importance to landing a man on the moon and/or the invention of the wheel.
"The biotech industry showed amazing resilience," said G. Steven Burrill, CEO of Burrill & Company, a San Francisco-based private merchant bank focused exclusively on life sciences. "Just within this one quarter, we've seen the industry lose $100 billion in market cap in a week (after the Clinton-Blair debacle), then just three months later, complete one of the industry's most successful IPO quarters in recent years."
During the second quarter of 2000, the industry raised $5.5 billion, a significant drop from the $12 billion raised in the first quarter, much of which resulted from the sell-off caused by the Clinton-Blair comments in March and the crash of technology stocks in general, that occurred during the quarter. Even so, 13 companies completed IPOs, raising $1.3 billion.
IPOs: More, More, More
Of the 18 companies in registration for IPOs at the end of the first quarter, all but 8 (Adolor, AtheroGenics, Centaur Pharmaceuticals, DrugAbuse Sciences, Esperion Therapeutics, First Horizon, Introgen Therapeutics, and Signal Pharmaceuticals) ended up completing their offerings during the second quarter. The biotech IPO window remained open throughout the quarter, with 13 companies completing IPOs (compared to 9 that completed theirs in the first quarter) raising a total of $1.3 billion, a 35 percent increase over the first quarter and a phenomenal 1,324 percent increase over the same quarter in 1999. But, investors were tough, moving from a seller's market in the first quarter (with high demand and great "pricing" for the issuers) to a buyers market in the second quarter, with pricing and capacity reduced. However, after-market performance for the IPOs was very good this quarter, and both companies (issuers) and investors ended the quarter happy.
The 13 companies that went public this quarter included:
Company IPO Date Offering Amount Price at %Change Market
Price Raised Qtr End Cap at Qtr
(in $M) (6/30/00) End
(in $M)
Lexicon
Genetics
(LEXG) 4/6/00 $22 $220.0 $34.38 56 $1633
Sangamo
Biosciences
(SGMO) 4/6/00 $15 52.5 $27.63 84 607
Tanox
(TNOX)* 4/6/00 $28 224.3 $47.31 69 2012
Exelixis
(EXEL)* 4/10/00 $13 136.0 $33.38 157 1481
Packard
Biosciences
(PBSC)* 4/19/00 $9 108.0 $17.00 89 1051
Praecis
(PRCS)* 4/26/00 $10 92.0 $27.88 179 1166
Genomic
Solutions
(GNSL)* 5/5/00 $8 61.3 $14.63 83 332
Orchid
Biosciences
(ORCH)* 5/4/00 $8 55.2 $37.97 375 1248
Paradigm
Genetics
(PDGM)* 5/5/00 $7 47.3 $12.19 74 313
ViroLogic
(VLGC) 5/1/00 $7 35.0 $14.88 113 293
Cepheid
(CPHD) 6/21/00 $6 30.0 $8.81 47 224
Dendreon
(DNDN) 6/15/00 $10 45.0 $16.56 66 343
Charles
River
Laboratories
(CRL) 6/23/00 $10 224.0 $22.19 122 717
SUMMARY 13 IPOs Avg. Total Avg. %.
Offr. Raised: Change:
Price: $1330.50 116
$12
* includes over-allotments to IPOs
In Addition to IPOs ...
The number of secondaries was down significantly in the second quarter of 2000 compared to the first quarter: only $817 million was raised in follow-on activity, compared to the first quarter of 2000's follow-on activity ($3.9 billion). This was largely due to the drop in biotech stock prices following the Clinton-Blair comments and the technology downdraft in the markets in general.
Second quarter 2000 secondaries included:
2Q00 FOLLOW-ONS
COMPANY TICKER AMOUNT PRICE PRICE AT % CHANGE
SYMBOL RAISED AT 6/30/00
(in $US SECONDARY
Millions)
Andrx ADRX 295 $48.00 $63.91 25
Cubist
Pharmaceuticals CBST 95 $33.00 $49.25 49
SuperGen SUPG 66 $45.00 $36.25 -19
Corixa CRXA 64 $32.00 $42.94 34
Texas
Biotechnology TXB 63 $12.50 $19.25 54
Ribozyme
Pharmaceuticals RZYM 57 $18.00 $25.81 43
Aviron AVIR 50 $22.50 $30.88 37
Aradigm ARDM 46 $16.00 $17.50 9
Avigen AVGN 26 $26.00 $43.88 69
EntreMed ENMD 22 $22.00 $29.94 36
Trega
Biosciences TRGA 11 $2.97 $3.19 7
Tularik TLRK 10 $14.00 $29.50 111
Neose
Technologies* NTEC 10 $32.00 $42.06 31
Diacrin* DCRN 5 $11.50 $7.88 -31
TOTAL
FOR Q200
($US M) $817
*over-allotments to follow-ons
Venture capital continued to flow back into the industry (at a rate of approximately $600 million/quarter). "Notwithstanding all the hype regarding venture capital's love affair with the Internet, the steady flow of venture capital into biotech is good news for the industry," said Burrill. "As interest in the Internet wanes, we'll see more VC money come back into the industry."
Looking at the industry by market cap, the Burrill Life Sciences Indices show that the large-and mid-cap companies saw an average increase of 23 and 22 percent respectively for the quarter, with the small cap down about 5 percent (although the small-caps are still up almost 56% for the year). The reason for the small-cap downturn for the quarter is largely the result of a large number of the companies represented in the small-cap index are genomics companies, and some of them continued to feel the effects of President Clinton and Prime Minister Blair's comments in March.
All Capital Markets in a State of Flux
Stock prices were down in general during the quarter, reflecting investor concerns with inflation, interest rates, Internet profitability, and economic slow down. With a number of major stock indices down for the quarter (Nasdaq was down over 15 percent and both the Dow and the Russell 2000 were down almost 5 percent) it's not surprising that biotech too, had a volatile quarter. What is most surprising is that the biotech industry did as well as it did, in spite of having come out of a rough end to the first quarter, when the industry experienced such a dramatic loss in value ($100 billion during the middle week of March 2000).
Healthcare Reform: Round 2
In years past, Capitol Hill's discussions concerning healthcare reform, prescription drug pricing, and Medicare reorganization caused significant rancor in the industry, with pharma and biotech stocks taking a negative hit. "This being an election year, Washington lawmakers are again debating a host of healthcare issues, yet investors seem little concerned about the effect on biotech stocks," said Burrill, "It's clear that investors aren't as worried about legislation and drug pricing as they are about the industry's products and profitability."
M&A and Alliances
Generally, M&A activity was relatively quiet for the quarter. No megamergers were announced and most mergers were biotech/biotech. One significant merger, announced in the first quarter, was called off in the wake of a Justice Department investigation into the potential of creating a monopoly. At the end of May, Third Wave Technologies and PE Biosystems announced that the proposed $331-million merger was off and that each company was going to continue to pursue their own separate agendas.
Major Acquisitions in the Quarter Included:
Acquirer Acquired Value
($US Millions)
Perkin Elmer NEN Life Sciences $400
LJL BioSystems Molecular Devices 263
Epitope STC Technologies 251
Guilford Pharmaceuticals Gliatech 203
Maxim Pharmaceuticals Cytovia, Inc. 79
Discovery Partners Int'l. Axys Pharmaceuticals 60
Maxygen ProFound Pharma (Denmark) 53
CeNeS Pharmaceuticals plc Cambridge NeuroScience 44
The total monies raised from partnering deals was more than double in the second quarter of the year ($956 million for Q100 compared to $2.3 billion for Q200), due mainly to two very significant deals: the multi-year, mega-deal (6 years, $800 million) between Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX) and Novartis to discover, develop, and commercialize small molecule drugs directed at targets in the kinase protein family; and the Millennium-Aventis multi-year, multi-focus $450 million partnership.
Selected biotech/pharma alliances this quarter included:
Biotech Pharma Description Value
($US Millions)
Vertex Novartis Vertex will discover eight $800
small-molecule drugs (kinase
inhibitors) using its
chemogenomics technology.
Millenium Aventis A unique alliance comprising 450
Pharmaceuticals Pharma of 4 separate agreements:
Inflammation, Technology Development,
Technology Transfer and Equity
Investment
Celgene Novartis Worldwide development and 100
marketing rights for Attenade,
a chirally pure version of Ritalin
for ADHD
Avanir SmithKline SKB will handle U.S. and Canadian 25
Beecham sales, marketing, and manufacturing
of docosanol, a cold sore cream
Visible PE Licensing and collaboration 25
Genetics Biosystems agreement that gives Visible Genetics
access to selected PE Biosystems
IP and patents
Metabolex Parke-Davis Discovery and development of new 50
therapeutics to treat Type II
diabetes by counteracting insulin
resistance
Alliance Baxter Baxter gets manufacturing, sales and 50
Pharmaceuticals Healthcare distribution rights for Oxygent, a
chemical based oxygen carrier
Ligand Bristol-Myers To discover, design, and develop 9
Pharmaceuticals Squibb orally active compounds that
selectively modulate the
mineralocorticord receptor (MR).
The Quarter's Product News
The Food and Drug Administration was back in swing in the second quarter, approving a number of new drugs and indications. If the current trend continues (14 new drugs have already been approved in 2000), this year may become a banner year for FDA approvals. Some of the more noteworthy approvals and FDA activities during the second quarter of 2000 included:
* An FDA advisory panel recommended that the label for Immunex Corp.'s
Enbrel be expanded to include patients suffering from early, active
rheumatoid arthritis (RA).
* Aventis received approval to market Lantus for the treatment of Type I
and Type II diabetes.
* Once again, Xoma felt the sting of the FDA: its stock dropped 25
percent in April on news that the FDA felt the company did not have
sufficient data to file a BLA for Neuprex as a treatment for severe
meningococcemia.
* In May, the FDA gave The Medicines Co. approval to use Angiomax as an
anticoagulant in patients with unstable angina undergoing percutaneous
transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA).
* Geltex and partner Sankyo Parke-Davis received FDA approval for
Welchol, their lipid-lower agent.
Other News of Note
* In April 2000, a joint National Research Council and Congressional
report titled "Seeds of Opportunity: An assessment of the benefits,
safety and oversight of plant genomics and agricultural biotechnology"
declared that food and crops improved through biotechnology are safe.
In addition, the House noted that agricultural biotechnology "has
tremendous potential to reduce the environmental impact of farming,
provide better nutrition, and help feed a rapidly growing world
population."
* Also in April, French scientists announced that they had successfully
used gene therapy to treat three infants born to SCID (severe combined
immunodeficiency).
* The FDA proposed that developers of bioengineered foods and animal
feeds must notify the FDA four months prior to the intended marketing
of such products. In addition, proposals were made regarding labeling,
safety, and adulteration issues.
The Big Story
The quarter's big news story (and possibly one of the biggest news stories of history), so well covered by the national press, was the incredible human genome sequencing story. "While analogies were made to the invention of the wheel, the moon landing, and the creation of the world's first dictionary," said Burrill, "this discovery may overshadow all of mankind's other accomplishments by revolutionizing medicine, agriculture, and taking a major step toward improving the quality of life for people around the world."
"Even with all the media coverage, investors are ill-prepared to really understand which technologies, companies, and/or products will be the big winners from this enormously significant scientific achievement," continued Burrill. "Portfolio investing will be the key; picking individual winners right now will be tough."
Burrill & Company
Burrill & Company is a private merchant bank, focused exclusively on life science companies (biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, healthcare, related medical technologies, agricultural technologies, animal health, nutraceuticals, and bioprocess/biomaterials).
Venture Capital: The Burrill family of venture capital funds, with over $200 million under management, include the Burrill Biotechnology Capital Fund, the Burrill Agbio Capital Fund, the Burrill Animal Health Capital Fund, the Burrill Bioprocess/Biomaterials Capital Fund, the Burrill Nutraceuticals Capital Fund, and the Burrill Life Sciences Capital Fund.
Strategic Partnering: Burrill & Company's strategic partnering business involves close collaboration with life science companies seeking strategic partnerships to access markets, to broaden scope, and to augment scientific, technical, and development capabilities. Companies benefit from Burrill & Company's extensive networks and unique ability to structure partnerships to achieve maximum value.
Spinouts: Burrill & Company works closely with large life science companies to maximize value from internal assets by "partnering them" (spinning out) with other companies. These spinouts range from outright divestments, in which Burrill & Company manages an "auction" process, to strategic collaborations for drug or technology development, to the creation of entirely new companies around the technology or products being spun out.
Biotech Industry Fundraising
($ in Millions)
PUBLIC COMPANIES PRIVATE COS.
IPO Secondary Convertible Private Venture Other
Public Debt Capital
2Q00 $1331 $817 $13 $373 $638 $13
2Q99 $106 $76 $687 $169 $360 $23
1Q00 $1114 $3850 $3792 $1767 $653 $74
YTD00 $2445 $4667 $3805 $2140 $1291 $87
YTD99 $201 $134 $907 $370 $478 $165
1999 $670 $5757 $1371 $1178 $1015 $236
Biotech Industry Fundraising
($ in Millions)
(continued from above)
Financing Partnering(1) Total
Total
2Q00 $3207 $2306 $5513
2Q99 $1421 $1109 $2530
1Q00 $10998 $956 $11954
YTD00 $14205 $3262 $17467
YTD99 $2255 $2670 $4925
1999 $10227 $5290 $15517
(1) Partnering figures based on upfront payments and equity investments
only for disclosed transactions.
SOURCE Burrill & Company
CONTACT: John Buchanan of Burrill & Company, 415-743-3168, or fax,
415-743-3161, or johnb@b-c.com; or Juling Chao of Burns McClellan, Inc.,
415-352-6262, or fax, 415-352-6263, or jchao@sf.burnsmc.com, for Burrill &
Company
