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Q4-2021 Dynamk Life Science Industrials INSIGHTS: Trends, Transactions & Headlines

Dynamk Capital

In This Report

  • M&A Events

  • Top Headlines

  • Dynamk Insights

  • VC Investments

  • Recommended Reads

M&A and IPO activity slowed down in Q4 of 2021. Deal size was strong but reflected deals that were announced earlier in the year and deal volume continued to slow. As announced in April 2021, ThermoFisher completed its $17B acquisition of PPD in December. In October, Isoplexis, a single-cell proteomics platform IPO’d at $582M valuation. In December, 3D System completed the $400M acquisition of Volumetrics, a manufacturer of human organs using bioprinting methods.

Top Headlines

Danaher has $2B in hand for 2022 without considering Omicron surge

Rainer Blair, President and CEO, shared Danaher's 2022 COVID-related orders received to delegates at the Evercore ISI Annual HealthCONx Conference noting this value does not consider potential windfall from new variants. 85% of this estimate is directly related to Danaher's tools, technologies, and services for vaccine manufacturing.
Full Article

Generate Biomedicines $370M Series B to advance AI drug discovery tech

The Generate platform can rapidly produce antibodies, peptides, enzymes, and cell & gene therapies to meet a variety of therapeutic needs. The funds will be used to scale the company from 80 to 500 employees over the next two years.
Press Release

Recursion & Roche, Genentech deal could mean +$1B in ongoing projects for AI drug discovery

In this wide-ranging collaboration, AI-powered drug designer Recursion secures $150M upfront for the use of their molecule mining technology with over 40 individual ongoing projects in total.
Full Article

Dynamk Insights

Q4 continued the fundraising trend established throughout 2021 with over $3B raised across 118 Life Science Industrial startups. This was the third largest fundraising quarter since we started tracking all deals in 2019. Major deals covered the entire spectrum of LSI themes including AI in drug discovery (Generate Biomedicines, Recursion, Arbor Biotechnologies), DNA synthesis (DNA Script), iPSCs (bit.bio), manufacturing (Univercells), and informatics platforms (Benchling).

Looking back, 2021 was a breakout year for LSI shattering all previous funding records. The success of COVID vaccines highlighted the importance and value that LSI can deliver. Broader economic trends can also explain the increased activity as US venture capital investment totaled over $300B doubling 2020’s already strong year.

Looking forward, we wonder if the intense activity of 2021 will sustain into 2022. We have already observed a slowdown in the public markets and anticipate late-stage private valuations to decline in the next 12-18 months. That said, growth through acquisition continues to be a core strategic pillar for established LSI firms with many of these firms having their strongest balance sheet in years. We expect LSI acquirers and startups to remain largely insulated from the turbulence in the biotech public markets, with some potential for valuation adjustments.

Venture & Growth Investing in Life Science Industrials

Q4 maintained the momentum built throughout 2021 with 8 deals above $100M. Despite the slight drop since Q3 ’21, Q4 closed 30% higher than the previous year and nearly 3x Q1 ’20, right before the COVID pandemic.

The number of early-stage deals increased as a proportion of all deals. Late-stage deals accounted for over 65% of total deal value which is a clear indication of the momentum carried by a new wave of innovative technology and solution providers.

Dynamk Recommended Reads

Business

Manufacturing

Research and Development

*Note: reported transaction amounts and timing are subject to change dependent on final closings.