Analyst highlights VC hotspots, Q1 trends and Brexit positivity as BioTrinity take-aways

Taking in and making use of key findings from conferences can be a difficult task but industry veteran Shawn Manning, managing director of investment banking firm Outcome Capital, came away from this month’s BioTrinity 2017 in the UK with some important learnings on the life sciences sector at present.

The event, hosted by research and development life sciences membership organization OBN, is a three-day conference and attracted more than 1,000 delegates from pharma, biotech, medtech, and other areas, with around 80 company showcases taking place, 2,200 one-to-one meetings and a plethora of panel sessions and informal networking events.

“Topics under discussion ranged from the role of the microbiome, through more effective fundraising to effective non-dilutive financing,” Dr Manning noted. “As has become the custom, Ernst and Young previewed its annual Beyond Borders biotechnology report, which although noting a 2016 slowdown versus 2015 in biotech financing, highlighted very strong early-stage venture capital (VC) funding and mergers and acquisitions (M&A) potential, with the UK leading European peers in terms of financing.