BioTrinity 2014: UK life sciences raised $1 billion in record-breaking fundraising year

UK life sciences achieved a record breaking fundraising year in 2013, according to OBN chief executive Jon Rees at the opening of BioTrinity 2014 in London today.

He told delegates: “Securing sufficient funding has historically been one of the many challenges threatening the success of entrepreneurial life sciences companies, particularly in the UK. However, we are encouraged by 2013 figures which suggest this pattern may have shifted in the last year. We estimate UK companies raised over $1 billion from venture capital and the public markets in 2013. Public market financing so far this year suggests we could be in for a banner 2014.”

Patrick Verheyen, head of Johnson & Johnson Innovation, a subsidiary of US health care giant J&J (NYSE: JNJ), and a keynote speaker at BioTrinity, added: “We established Johnson & Johnson Innovation in London to advance transformative healthcare solutions by catalyzing new science and technology through collaboration and exchange of ideas.”