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Q3-2020 Dynamk Life Science Industrials INSIGHTS: Trends, Transactions & Headlines

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M&A Activity

In This Report

  • M&A

  • Top Headlines

  • VC Investments

  • Dynamk Insights

  • Recommended Reads

Overall invested capital deployed in Life Science Industrials continued to track in line with expectations and has already surpassed 2019 levels with the close of Q3. Beyond this, we have observed a flurry of activity on the IPO and rumored IPO front as Life Science Industrials continue to be attractive to investors.


Following the outlier blockbuster acquisition of Cytiva by Danaher in Q1 ($21.4B), Q2 and Q3 reflect lower levels of M&A in part due to undisclosed transaction amounts. It is worth noting however that just following the close of Q3, there were several large transactions.

Top Headlines

Berkeley Lights' raised $178.2 million as upsized IPO priced above expected range

The cell biology company's upsized IPO priced above the expected range. With 60.94 million shares outstanding after the IPO, the $22 per share price at the time valued Berkeley Lights at about $1.34 billion.

Synthego Raises $100 Million to Accelerate CRISPR Platform Scale-up

The genome engineering company, raised $100 million in a Series D financing led by new investor Wellington, co-led by RA Capital Management and 8VC. This brings Synthego’s total private funding to over $250million.

Venture & Growth Investing in Life Science Industrials

Investors continue to be unfazed by covid-era restrictions in terms of deploying capital in life sciences. Dips in activity from quarter to quarter are common, but with an outsized Q2 and Q3 already in the books (total YTD $5.2B), 2020 is on track to be a stellar year.

Dynamk Insights

Trends in Valuations and Exit Multiples
Life Science Industrials have traditionally seen exit multiples for growing businesses ranging in the high single digits, but with a new found excitement for life science tools, tech and services, and an acquirer pool that is flush with cash and looking to address technology and portfolio gaps, deal makers are observing transactions now trending at multiples well into the high teens and beyond for highly strategic and differentiated assets. Additional drivers include strategic acquirer offensive and defensive plays by leading organizations and those striving to deliver on full-spectrum end-to-end solutions. Excitement in cell & gene therapy and a renewed interest in Life Sciences given its resilience during the current pandemic also factors into this as investors are rewarding public life science players on their high-profile acquisitions.

While there was an expectation this trend might translate to early stage funding, for the most part the rigor and restraint shown by life science investors (compared to their counterparts in tech) have largely kept seed and early stage funding rounds at reasonable levels and there continues to be significant value for investors in the private market.

At the same time, investors appear to be hungry for IPOs and pre-IPO financings, coupled with the public market appetite for anything life sciences.

Recommended Reads

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