Fierce Biotech has released their latest analysis of venture capital funding of biotech in the U.S. last year, broken down by metropolitan area:
Source: http://www.fiercebiotech.com/story/top-15-cities-biotech-venture-funding/2014-03-06
San Francisco is back out in front, edging out Boston-Cambridge. After San Diego and Washington, funding tails off rapidly, and by the time you hit #15 Chicago, you’re down to about 1% of the pie.
There are a couple of key takeaways. First, biotech startup funding is very concentrated, with the big three cities (San Francisco, Boston-Cambridge, and San Diego) totaling more than 60% of all funding ($2.5B). That number, incidentally, is 25% more than the total of all biotech VC funding in Europe.
Second interesting point: there really isn’t that much VC funding of biotech! The total is only about $4.5B in the U.S., something just under $2B in Europe, and a smattering elsewhere. In other words, the level of annual global VC biotech funding is smaller than the R&D budget of just one large pharma company. Keep that in mind when you hear multiple pharma companies planning on sourcing a large part of their pipeline from licensing and acquisitions.
Finally, recognize that distribution? Yup, Pareto. Apparently biotech hub performance is just like employee performance.
Alexander Szewczak 