Venture harvest

Private biotechs and the venture and private equity funds they rely on are continuing to reap the benefits of the public biotech bull market and IPO window. Based on data tracked by BioCentury since 1994, private biotechs had their best year ever, while VC and PE firms raised as much as they invested from LPs looking to redeploy returns.

The $9 billion raised by private biotechs blew out the previous annual high of nearly $7 billion in 2007. The 2014 figure was 50% higher than the 2013 total of $6 billion...