U.S. venture-backed IPO activity continued to gain momentum in Q3 2013, marking the second consecutive quarter of over 20 venture-backed companies going public. And buoying the surge in venture-backed IPOs this year are companies in the healthcare sector.
In the past two quarters alone, 24 healthcare companies have gone public. In fact, the healthcare sector (biotech, pharma, drug, medical devices) accounted for over 1/2 of all venture-backed IPOs in the period. But behind the upswing in healthcare IPOs are several investors more active in the space and successful on the IPO front. So we used the new interactive Rankings feature on CB Insights to rank venture capital investors in the healthcare sector based on financing deals and total IPO exits between Q1’13 and Q3’13. The results are below.
In the first nine months of the year, healthcare-focused VC fund Versant Ventures and mega venture fund NEA topped the list of most active investors in the healthcare sector. NEA’s recent healthcare-related deals include dermatology therapy company Dermira and cartilage implant developer Cartiva, while Versant has recently invested in companies including gene therapy firm Audentes Therapeutics and molecular diagnostics company Veracyte.
MPM Capital comes in at #5 on the list of most active healthcare investors. But breaking down investors by their portfolio IPO exits reveals that the Boston-based healthcare fund has quietly notched six U.S. healthcare IPOs in the first three quarters of 2013. MPM Capital-backed IPOs this year include the likes of Acceleron Pharma, Aratana Therapeutics, and Conatus Pharmaceuticals to name a few. While some have fared better than others, the six firms saw an aggregate valuation on the day of their offerings of $1.72B.
And MPM Capital isn’t done yet. Earlier this month, MPM portfolio co. Macrogenics went public and jumped 50% in its market debut, while MPM-backed molecular therapy firm Celladon also filed for an IPO. Suffice to say, 2013 is shaping up to be a pretty good year for MPM. The top 4 investors with the most healthcare IPOs between Q1’13 and Q3’13 are below.
