SOURCE
The Wall Street Journal
Brian Gormley
U.S. medical startups raised a record $3.9 billion in venture capital in the first quarter of 2015 amid rising investor interest in biotechnology, digital health and health-care services.
The total surpassed the previous record high of $3.42 billion invested in the second quarter of 2014, according to data provider Dow Jones VentureSource. A strong market for initial public offerings, growing confidence in the success of drugs in clinical trials and acquisitions by large drug manufacturers that need to replenish their pipelines drove the investment.
“What we are seeing is a very quick steepening of the valuation curve,” said Philippe Chambon, managing director of New Leaf Venture Partners, which invests in health-care startups.