BioCentury
ARTICLE | Finance

Follow-on flurry sets record

February deals make 1Q15 record quarter for follow-on financings

March 2, 2015 8:00 AM UTC

Although follow-ons this month have been no match for the record $4.2 billion raised in January, a spate of deals last week brought the 1Q15 total to more than $6.4 billion. With a month to go, 21% more money has been raised in biotech follow-ons this quarter than the $5.2 billion raised in 4Q00, the previous quarterly record for follow-ons since BioCentury began tracking financings in 1994.

In February, 33 biotechs raised $2.2 billion in 34 deals, excluding the $8.4 billion raised by Actavis plc (NYSE:ACT) on Feb. 25 in a pair of offerings of ordinary and convertible preferred shares. In February, nine companies raised follow-ons greater than $100 million - the largest being the $287.5 million raised by Neurocrine Biosciences Inc. (NASDAQ:NBIX). In January, 14 companies raised $100 million-plus follow-ons, topped by BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc.'s (NASDAQ:BMRN) $911.5 million financing. ...