Investors and corporates in health care are optimistic going into 2025 as they believe that capital constraints in the sector are finally easing, according to a report by global investment bank Jefferies. The return of the IPO market and increased M&A activity contributed to an uptick in confidence in the sector.

Despite government efforts to prop up biopharma and med-tech research toward creating women’s health products, companies must eventually reach out to the private markets to bring their inventions to the next stage of development. Anna Zornosa-Heymann, a women’s health investor, serves as a part-time contractor with the U.S. NIH’s SEED (Small business Education & Entrepreneurial Development) office, where she helps companies move from government to external funding. Government funds are “excellent to pay for research … but those funds don’t allow you to build a first-class team and to develop a sales apparatus,” she told BioWorld.

Med-tech companies raised $7.35 billion in the third quarter of 2024, slightly down from $7.49 billion in the second quarter but up from $6.45 billion in Q1. Through the first three quarters of the year, total funding reached $21.28 billion, marking a 48% increase compared to $14.36 billion during the same period in 2023.

Artificial intelligence-powered rare disease diagnostics firm 3billion Inc. debuted on the tech-heavy Kosdaq board of the Korea Exchange Nov. 14 with its IPO raising about ₩14.4 billion (US$10.25 million) via an offering of about 3.2 million shares at ₩4,500 per share, the low end of its offering price range.