OXFORD, OBN BioCluster Report 2011 Urges Caution on Growing Innovation Financing Gap

The UK bioindustry has raised over $250m in financing during the second quarter of 2011, the largest amount raised in any quarter for one year, and the second largest amount raised in any of the last 20 quarters. This signals an end to the financing drought that saw three consecutive quarters below $100m from the second and fourth quarter in 2008.

According to the OBN BioCluster Report 2011, the UK Bioindustry has seen a year-on-year increase in investment from 2008-2010, and has returned to its position as the leading capital raiser in Europe, a crown which it briefly lost in 2009. The report states that the Oxford BioCluster took the largest bite of the apple taking $204m of the $253m financing raised in the country as a whole during Q2 2011.

"The results reflect the transition of a growing and maturing BioCluster whose on-going success requires later stage clinical financing, beyond the earlier-stage innovation financing that we are more used to seeing," commented Jon Rees, CEO of OBN.

Although the second quarter results for the Oxford BioCluster were double compared to any previous quarter, the report urges caution. According to the report, the divide in the UK Bioindustry between the amount of financing going in to early-stage and late-stage has grown, with just 0.8% of funds being attracted by the bottom 20% of financing rounds compared to more than 2% in 2007, while over 70% of funds are attracted by the top 20%.

"Taking the largest data set analysed yet for the UK scene from E&Y, Medtrack and company press releases, we have been able to show there is a growing gap in the financing of innovation, which taken at a country level, a government would be wise not to ignore," said Jon Rees, CEO of OBN.

Looking specifically at Oxford, the report signals a recovery for the BioCluster from the funding drought of 2008, in which just $61m was raised to finance the county's companies, with the amount raised so far in 2011 broadly equalling what was raised in 2009 and 2010 combined. Furthermore, the report states that $450m of venture capital investment was raised in the Oxford BioCluster between 2008-2010, an increase of 50% from the period covered by the last report (2005-7). The BioCluster also benefitted by the addition of a further 28 companies between 2008-10, taking the total number of bioscience companies in the county to 163.

To obtain a copy of the OBN BioCluster Report 2011, which is available to download free of charge, readers should navigate to http://www.obn.org.uk/cluster

About OBN

OBN is a not-for-profit business network which provides comprehensive support for its member biotech and medtech companies in the Oxford and South-East England biocluster and the rest of the UK. Our activities can be summarised as networking, partnering, group purchasing, and fundraising advice. Through its delivery of Europe's fastest growing biopartnering and investment conference, BioTrinity, OBN generates more R&D-company-to-investor interactions than anyone else in Europe. OBN is sponsored by Shire, as Corporate Patron, and Corporate Sponsors MEPC, Manches LLP, James Cowper, Red Moon Executive Search, PiR Interims, SRG, FOCUS Insurance, World Courier and Citigate Dewe Rogerson as well as by its extensive membership of R&D companies and other companies across the entire life sciences industry ecosystem. OBN counts nearly 200 companies amongst its membership, which is growing about 45% per year. OBN Published the OBN BioCluster Report every 3 years.