The pending Abbvie Inc. merger with Allergan plc, expected to close in the first quarter, brought good tidings to another “A” company on Monday, allowing Astrazeneca plc to regain global rights to its late-stage Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis (UC) drug, brazikumab, an anti-IL-23 therapy that was out-licensed to Allergan in a $1.27 billion deal in 2016.
The final scorecard for med-tech IPOs in 2019 shows that Lake Forest, Calif.-based Inmode Ltd. performed the best since its August debut, while San Diego-based Guardion Health Sciences Inc. lost the most stock value during the year.
Last year’s robust deal-making environment, high-value M&As, increasing financings and a supportive public market has set the stage for continued med-tech enthusiasm among investors and partners in 2020.
Whether the dealmaking momentum of 2019 will continue into 2020 is at the mercy of several uncertainties, not the least of which is the outcome of a U.S. presidential election and continued debates over drug pricing and other legislative issues affecting the industry.
Med-tech companies brought in more money than each of the last two years in every type of financing, aside from private placements, with about 11% of the funds flowing into digital health companies. In total, the industry raised $40.67 billion, an increase of 98% over 2018, which logged $20.6 billion and was more in line with the $19.4 billion raised in 2017.
Despite a rough ride on the capital markets for much of the year, particularly in the second and third quarters, this did not prevent the biopharmaceutical sector from attracting a significant amount of capital. According to BioWorld, when the curtain closed on 2019, approximately $57.6 billion had been generated by global public and private companies.
While the number of venture capital financings are continuing the upward trend begun in 2018, amounts raised are down from last year, aside from series B rounds that have brought in 28% more in funds of $5.49 billion.
Wells Fargo Securities LLC recently published The MedTech Manual – 2020 Outlook, in which it says the medical device sector “will continue to be a port in the storm because the political focus will remain on drug pricing and increasing access to [health care].” Overall, the industry has performed quite well in comparison with other health care sectors during 2019. The financial firm’s senior analyst Larry Biegelsen and colleagues wrote that they expect the medical device sector to continue moving in a positive direction despite Medicare for All (MFA) rhetoric and an upcoming presidential election.
With a 349% increase in stock price since its June debut on U.S. markets, Boston-based Karuna Therapeutics Inc. secures the title of best IPO performer so far in 2019. The stock skyrocketed in November following positive top-line phase II data of Karxt in acute psychosis in patients with schizophrenia, providing a potential read-through to larger indications such as Alzheimer’s disease and pain.
A total of 18 med-tech companies that have gone public on U.S. exchanges this year are showing a positive percentage change in stock value on average of 43%, despite large price drops for Personalis Inc. and Guardion Health Sciences Inc.
