The value of global funding rounds for biotechnology companies rose sequentially in the second quarter, although the sector appears on track to post the lowest annual total since at least 2019.

Compared to the first quarter, the aggregate transaction amount increased 28.6% to $5.03 billion across 200 deals, ending eight straight quarters of declining value, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence data.

However, the data shows a decrease in both aggregate transaction value and the number of funding rounds when compared to the second quarter of 2022.

For the year to Sept. 1, biotech funding rounds that included private equity or venture capital investors stood at $11.21 billion, set to fall short of the $25.26 billion for full year 2022.

The number of rounds also seems to be heading for a down year, with 462 deals recorded during the measured period compared to 919 transactions in all of 2022.

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The US and Canada had the largest transaction value in the year to Sept. 1 at $7.04 billion across 165 rounds of funding, followed by Asia-Pacific with a total of $2.34 billion across 169 transactions.

Top transactions

US biotech companies dominated the list of the largest transactions, accounting for nine out of the top 10 global funding rounds for the year so far. The other one was in China.

The largest round of funding with private equity investment in the biotech sector was for ElevateBio LLC, which raised $401 million from an investor group including EDBI Pte Ltd., Emerson Collective LLC, F2 Capital Ventures LLP, ITOCHU Techno-Solutions America Inc., MPM Asset Management LLC, Samsara BioCapital LLC, SoftBank Investment Advisers (UK) Ltd., The Invus Group LLC and Vertex Ventures.

ReNAgade Therapeutics Management Inc.'s $300 million series A funding round marked the second-largest transaction thus far in 2023, with private equity firm F2 Capital Ltd. and hedge fund manager BioImpact Capital LLC as backers.