Robust Investment in Greater Philadelphia Region’s Cell and Gene Therapy Sector Continued in the First Quarter of 2021
PHILADELPHIA (April 8, 2021) – The robust venture capital funding the Greater Philadelphia region saw in the life sciences sector in 2020 continued in the first quarter of 2021, with more than $2.9 billion in investment across 16 companies announced as of March 31, 2021, according to research from biopharma database company DealForma and information from company press releases. Among the life sciences deals for the first quarter of 2021 were nine transactions in the cell and gene therapy space totaling more than $980 million.
Those nine cell and gene therapy company transactions in the first quarter of 2021 included: Aro Biotherapeutics ($88 million in Series A financing); CARISMA Therapeutics Inc. ($59 million Series B equity financing round); Century Therapeutics ($160 million Series C equity financing round); Excision BioTherapeutics ($60 million); Gyroscope Therapeutics Limited ($148 million Series C financing); INOVIO Pharmaceuticals, Inc. ($173 million); Passage Bio, Inc. ($154 million); Renovacor, Inc. ($116 million); and XyloCor ($22.6 million).
An additional seven life sciences companies had deals in the first quarter of 2021, including: Helius Medical Technologies, Inc. ($11 million); Locust Walk Acquisition Corp. ($175 million IPO); Onconova Therapeutics, Inc. (nearly $37.5 million); Ortho Clinical Diagnostics Holdings plc (more than $1,485.8 million IPO); Outlook Therapeutics, Inc. ($35 million); Prelude Therapeutics Incorporated ($172.5 million); and Vallon Pharmaceuticals Inc. ($18 million).
The healthy investment follows on the heels of 2020 data from DealForma which indicated 46 investment deals valued at more than $12 billion for the year, with $1.4 billion across 15 deals (13 companies) attributed to the first quarter of 2020. Among the deals in 2020 were 11 transactions in the cell and gene therapy space totaling more than $4.4 billion, of which four transactions, exceeding $243 million in investment, fell in the first quarter of 2020.
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