Q1 data analysis

It is no understatement to claim that 2018 has kicked off with a bang, setting the stage for what could become one of the most successful years for university venturing. The jaw-dropping $8.7bn acquisition of Ohio State University’s gene therapy developer Avexis by Novartis may be fresh on everyone’s mind, but it happened earlier this month so will not register in the graphs below. Yet the figures for the first quarter are impressive. When Global University Venturing undertook its annual review in the January issue, 2017 had already outperformed 2016 and the recent heights of 2014. With 44 deals in January 2018 and a steady 63 investments in both February and March, numbers are higher across the board than the same period a year ago, when GUV tracked 43, 36 and 27 deals across the first quarter. The value of investments has risen too – $587m in January 2018, up from $280m last year, with $507m in February, up from $202m, and almost $1.37bn in March, up from $444m. It is intriguing to note that although there were more deals in February this year, the total value of investments was significantly lower, though this is partly due to some remaining undisclosed. The US and Canada continue to dominate both in terms of number of deals and total value. Europe accounted for far fewer deals compared with the 23 out of 43 deals in January last year. It is too early to say whether the trend will continue, but considering that the high point last year was September with 69 deals – a spike caused by several tech transfer offices disclosing their spinouts for the previous academic year – and the first quarter is already within touching distance of that ceiling, things are looking good for the rest of the year. In fact, even January’s 44 deals stand above nine out of 12 months’ figures for 2017, while February and March’s 63 deals tower above every month but September last year. The number of exits has also increased. In January, GUV tracked three, February dropped slightly to two and March rose to six. The value of January’s deals was not disclosed, but February’s brought in $95m in an upfront payment for the shareholders of Elastagen, an Australia-based dermatology product spinout from University of Sydney, which agreed to an acquisition by pharmaceutical firm Allergan. Investors may yet receive more cash from that exit, as the agreement included an undisclosed sum of contingent,…

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