Venture-backed life science IPOs far exceeded tech IPOs in terms of quantity in 2014. Besides being plentiful in number, VC-backed healthcare exits also racked up some large valuations with the top 20 life science exits of 2014 being valued at $13.9B. The top two healthcare investors per Investor Mosaic (OrbiMed Advisors and Alta Partners) saw multiple entrants in the top 20 exits of 2014.
OrbiMed’s largest exit came with Seragon Pharmaceuticals, who was acquired for $1.7B (including earn outs) by Genentech in July. Alta Partners’ biggest healthcare exit of the year was in Kite Pharma’s June IPO which valued the company at $632M. There are a mix of pharma, biotech and medical device deals in the list below.
Luke Evnin, co-founder of MPM Capital argued in a guest post earlier this year that biotech venture capital is where it’s at. Given the exit and IPO health of the life sciences sector in 2014, 2015 should be a banner year.
The full list of the 20 largest VC-backed healthcare exits of 2014 below. Juno’s flagship IPO ended a banner year for big healthcare exits.
| Company | Exit Type | Valuation ($M) | Select Investors |
|---|---|---|---|
| Juno Therapeutics | IPO | 1870 | ARCH Venture Partners, Bezos Expeditions, Venrock, Alaska Permanent Fund |
| Alios BioPharma | Acquisition (Johnson & Johnson) | 1750 | Novartis Venture Funds, SR One, Novo Ventures |
| Seragon Pharmaceuticals | Acquisition (Genentech) | 1700 | OrbiMed Advisors, Aisling Capita, venBIO |
| Labrys Biologics | Acquisition (Teva Pharmaceuticals) | 825 | InterWest Partners, Canaan Partners, Sofinnova Ventures, venBIO |
| Kite Pharma | IPO | 632.4 | Alta Partners, Pontifax, TPG Capital |
| Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical | IPO | 610.3 | TPG Biotech, T. Rowe Price, Healthcap Venture Capital, Pappas Ventures, Fidelity Biosciences |
| Ulthera | Acquisition (Merz Pharma Group) | 600 | New Enterprise Associates, 3i Group, Apposite Capital |
| iPierian | Acquisition (Bristol-Myers Squibb) | 550 | Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, MPM Capital, Google Ventures |
| Topera Medical | Acquisition (Abbott Laboratories) | 550 | New Enterprise Associates |
| Civitas Therapeutics | Acquisition (Acorda Therapeutics) | 525 | Longitude Capital, OrbiMed Advisors, Canaan Partners |
| PreCision Dermatology | Acquisition (Valeant Pharma) | 500 | Boston Millennia Partners, Longitude Capital, Frazier Healthcare, Quaker BioVentures |
| Versartis | IPO | 488.6 | Index Ventures, New Leaf Venture Partners, Advent Venture Partners |
| Pneumrx | Acquisition (BTG) | 475 | Silicon Valley Bank, Alta Partners, Adams Street Partners |
| CardioMems | Acquisition (St. Jude Medical) | 455 | Arboretum Ventures, Boston Millennia Partners, Johnson & Johnson |
| SAGE Therapeutics | IPO | 449.3 | ARCH Venture Partners, OrbiMed Advisors, Third Rock Ventures |
| Coherus BioSciences | IPO | 432.7 | Venrock, Fidelity Biosciences, Lilly Ventures |
| Nevro | IPO | 423.8 | New Enterprise Associates, MPM Capital, Three Arch Partners |
| Small Bone Innovations | Acquisition (Stryker) | 375 | 3i Group, NGN Capital, Axiom Venture Partners |
| InnoPharma | Acquisition (Pfizer) | 360 | Comerica Bank, Thomas McNerney & Partners, NXT Capital |
| Avalanche Biotechnologies | IPO | 353.2 | Venrock, Deerfield Management, Redmile Group |
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