Funding and deal making dries up for local industry

The Australian biotech and pharmaceutical industries saw a worrying 75 percent drop in venture fundings over the last four years, compared with a global decline of only 14 percent. That’s according to MedTRACK, a leading database of companies in the industry.

MedTRACK also noted that the number of product and technology deals with Australian companies fell by 20 percent over the period compared with a world-wide average fall of just seven percent.

Globally and in Australia, oncology continues to lead in the number of deals by therapeutic category followed by infections and CNS. However, the worldwide trend of increased deals around niche areas such as kidney/genitourinary, musculoskeletal, ophthalmology/optometry and women’s health did not take hold in Australia, MedTRACK said, noting that local dealmakers have tended to focus on high volume, lower risk products that can target emerging markets such as India and China.

But it wasn’t all doom and gloom. One area that has flourished in Australia is ‘small-molecule’ science. MedTRACK reports that the number of deals in this area increased significantly over the last four years compared to deals based on biologics.