Silicon Valley Bank released its healthcare investments and exits trend report for the first half of 2019. It shows, among other things, oncology losing its first-place status in terms of Series A dollars raised.

Venture capital fundraising this year by biopharma startups is on course to fall behind last year, though it will be above the figure for 2017. But the biggest story may be where that funding is going.

Silicon Valley Bank released its 2019 midyear report, “Trends in Healthcare Investments and Exits 2019,” on Thursday. So far, healthcare companies have raised $5.8 billion in the first half of this year, compared with $9.6 billion for all of 2018 and $9.1 billion in 2017.

But one of the most noteworthy trends is that oncology appears to have lost its first-place status in terms of Series A dollars raised. Although oncology saw the largest number of deals by indication, with 21 Series A rounds, oncology companies raised $483 million. By contrast, companies focused on development platforms saw 20 Series A deals valued at $659 million.

“If you go back historically, oncology has dominated venture investing since 2013,” said SVB Managing Director and report author Jon Norris, in a phone interview.

Image Credit:  Silicon Valley Bank

Read More