Baird Global Healthcare Report 2016-2017 Global Healthcare Report | Page 6
When we talk about watershed
evolutionary moments in Life Sciences,
we’re talking about specific breakthroughs
that have unlocked doors and changed the way we
think about conditions and diseases.
the market now. For example, companies
like Edison Pharmaceuticals and BERG
Health are technology platforms devoted to
healthcare. Then you have big-name tech and
consumer product companies like Google,
Apple and Nestle stepping in and investing in
Biotech companies that have or will ultimately
develop drugs and therapies.
To a large extent, when we look at what’s
driving advances in the Biotech space, it’s
looking for different ways to cure diseases.
This has implications for everything from
perception to diagnosis to treatment.
HOW ARE THESE
COEVOLUTIONARY DYNAMICS
IMPACTING DEAL ACTIVITY
IN YOUR SPACE?
we think about conditions and diseases. For example, the
sequencing of the human genome was a major milestone.
That was more than a decade ago, and we’re still seeing
significant advances from that. The associated technology
enhancements are already giving way to next-generation
sequencing technologies that have made sequencing work
cheaper, faster and more accurate for researchers and
companies. It's allowed more research to occur, impacting
drug development as well as identifying patients for clinical
trials, so there's also a therapeutic aspect.
DAVID SCHECHNER, MANAGING DIRECTOR
In many ways, we’re seeing a blurring of the lines between biology and technology, and it’s creating opportunities for
new ideas and players in the Biotechnology space. There are
more traditionally technology-focused companies entering
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DAVID SCHECHNER
The Biotech market is selective. Volatility kept deal volume
down in 2016, and M&A deal flow has been flat, but highquality companies are still being acquired. In fact, certain
subsectors, including contract research organization (CRO)
and contract manufacturing organization (CMO), recently saw
10-year highs. Significant deals are still being consummated
in Biotechnology as well.
Over the past several years, investor interest has been high
in several key areas. Gene therapy has been very attractive to
investors, as have stem cells, which are unspecialized cells that
can mature into different types of functional cells.