DUBLIN – European biotechnology firms engaged in drug discovery and development raised an aggregate $3.172 billion in equity investment during the first half of 2019, down 19% on the same period last year. Unless there is a substantial pickup in the third and fourth quarters, the sector's record-breaking 2018 total of $7.715 billion looks to be out of reach. 

LONDON – With five expensive advanced therapies recently approved in Europe and a further five expected to get approval in the near term, it is vital the hurdles that delay and preclude access – and which have led to the commercial failure of earlier products – are removed.

Academic sponsors of clinical trials in the EU are the worst offenders when it comes to not posting completed trial results in the EudraCT database.

LONDON – Two new $250 million investment funds have been announced, promising long-term capital to new companies formed around the U.K.'s science base. Ahren Innovation Capital LP, which is supported by eight of Cambridge University's most prominent scientists – including two Nobel laureates – has closed at $250 million. Meanwhile, SV Health Investors announced the launch of its $250 million seventh fund, with the charity Cancer Research UK (CRUK) putting in $25 million as cornerstone investor.

The industry is again preparing for a no-deal Brexit, as political shifts indicate that the U.K. crashing out of the EU on Oct. 31 is an increasingly likely outcome.