Trio of follow-ons lift 2019 tally of deals

December’s rush of follow-ons has continued with Rocket, Constellation and Marinus all pricing follow-on offerings since Tuesday’s close to raise more than $340 million. But cash raised via follow-ons continues to lag behind last year's numbers.

The latest financings bring this year’s tally to about $21 billion. In 2018, biotechs raised nearly $27 billion in 258 follow-ons, up from $22.6 billion raised in 244 offerings in 2017. About 220 companies have raised follow-ons to date in 2019, according to BioCentury’s BCIQ database (See "Despite Flurry of Deals, Follow-ons Well Short of 2018's Total")...