Three U.S. federal government agencies announced that their focus on consolidation in health care markets may soon ramp up, given concerns that consolidation may be affecting the cost and quality of patient care.

Venture capitalists (VCs) on three different panels at Biocom California’s Global Life Science Partnering & Investor Conference gave advice to startups on a range of topics from what they’re looking for before investing to what startups should be doing to find pharma partners.

With the number of people with dementia in Australia expected to nearly double by 2054, the federal government is funding a new AU$50 million (US$32.76 million) biomedical and med-tech incubator program to develop new therapies, medical devices and digital health technologies to address dementia and cognitive decline.

With the number of people with dementia in Australia expected to nearly double by 2054, the federal government is funding a new AU$50 million (US$32.76 million) biomedical and med-tech incubator program to develop new therapies, medical devices and digital health technologies to address dementia and cognitive decline.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said Feb. 14 that it may elevate the threshold for registration of venture capital (VC) funds from $10 million to $12 million, a move that would exempt at least a few med-tech VC funds from registration requirements.

In 2023, med-tech firms garnered a total of $17.68 billion in funding, marking a 53.85% decline from the $38.31 billion raised in 2022 and ranking as the lowest financing year documented by BioWorld MedTech. This decrease follows a 22.3% dip from 2021’s $49.3 billion. The top-value year in med-tech financings remains 2020, recording $59.7 billion, followed by 2021’s $49.3 billion.

In the face of the short supply of venture capital, the U.K. biotech sector weathered the storm in 2023, raising a total of £1.25 billion (US$1.6 billion) across 69 deals. That was 6% down on 2022, but has to be seen against the backdrop of U.K. VC investment across all sectors falling by a massive 43%. With follow-on financing by quoted companies, biotechs raised £1.8 billion overall.

Biopharma firms collectively raised $70.97 billion in 2023, a welcome upturn of 17% from the $60.81 billion raised in 2022. Although falling short of the $118.29 billion raised in 2021 and $134.53 billion raised in 2020, by 40% and 47%, respectively, 2023 stands firmly in the third-highest place in BioWorld’s records going back to 2011.

A catastrophe was averted over the weekend of March 11-12, 2023, when the U.K. government and the Bank of England orchestrated the rescue of the U.K. arm of Silicon Valley Bank, after its U.S. parent was shut down by the receiver. While that saved dozens of small biotechs with large deposits at the bank, it signified the fragile economic environment during the year, compounded by wider geopolitical frictions, with a market described by Chris Hollowood, CEO of Syncona Investment Management, as “the worst in my career.”