Fewer bets, bigger checks, and a narrower focus. That’s biopharma financing in Q1 of 2025 in a nutshell.
The money flowed to only 109 companies, down from 457 last year. This is a structural shift we should not miss.
Early “platform” plays raised a median of around $30m.
Late-stage rounds have ballooned to over $200m.
What’s in the middle? The middle is being squeezed out.
What about licensing deals?
They have surged to 8% of the total value of the deal.
It’s the highest we have seen in a decade.
These deals are commanding richer advance payments.
Big Pharma prefers to pay for de-risked external assets over risking internal R&D.
Policy uncertainty around IRA, OBBB, potential MFN require constant shift of focus and conservative behavior.
We are moving away from bold bets in the direction of predictable success and capital safety.
Real disruption started to take place in the gaps between big funding rounds. Here, new ideas get support from alternative sources. These investors know that tomorrow’s breakthroughs will look very different from today’s technologies.
Today, the value is in the focus and differentiated science.