2021 Was the Year of Record-Breaking Health Tech Expansion... 2022 Maybe Bigger
Over the past two years, events like COVID-19 have strained the healthcare industry both financially and operationally. As a result, we are providing insight into how market players (banks, institutions, and investors) view this growing industry and analyzing the important changes occurring as we move into 2022. Changes in legislation, competition, and technology are transforming how healthcare firms deliver treatments, manage risk, and allocate capital. These changes are particularly of interest to banks and institutional investment managers due to their prominent role in financing, advising, and operating healthcare firms.
Healthcare Investments
All four sectors showed record investment in 2021. Driven by lofty step-ups in valuation and fast M&A and IPO activity, venture funding hit new heights in 2021.
Investments exceeded $80 billion, beating 2020’s record by more than 30% (in the US and Europe). Healthcare investment into companies has more than doubled every two years from $16 billion in 2017 to $80+ billion in 2021. However, we may not see the record numbers in 2022 like we did in 2021. This is due to a shift in focus toward exit readiness for current investments.
Notable Results of 2021:
Healthcare venture capital fundraising hit $28.3 billion, nearly doubling 2020's record, providing a large pool of dedicated capital to support new investments in the coming years
All sectors saw records in investment activity, especially in health-tech which saw more than double of 2020's investment levels
Later-stage $1B+ valuations surged, creating 42 unicorns in 2021 – more than 4x 2020's total
Biopharma investment totaled $36B, as Biopharma Seed/Series A saw an outsized increase in anti-infective investment. The drop in orphan and rare disease activity continues
Mega deals in dx/tools tripled compared to 2020 with 38 $100M financings due to robust activity & strong capital supply from late-stage investors
Investments in early-stage devices hit a record of $1.2B, driven by NIM (non-invasive monitoring) investments which was up 92% over 2020
Overall, investments in deals declined slightly in the second half of the year as investors worked through a difficult environment within the public markets
Venture healthcare exits set records in 2021 with record IPO activity across every sector and record private M&As for the health-tech, dx/tools and device sectors
Outlook for 2022:
Venture fundraising is expected to hit $16B and overall investments to total $64B
Biopharma will likely see lower overall investment in the sector and a slowdown in IPO activity. However, M&A should pick up in 2022 thanks to a continuation in the strong pace of private pre-clinical M&As
Heath-tech should see a continued strong year of M&A as SVB anticipates massive consolidation within the sector. Investments will be healthy but not at 2021 levels. The IPO market will continue to remain open to maturing companies
In dx/tools, SVB estimates slightly fewer IPOs in 2022 and at lower valuations. Private M&A will remain strong with more than 20 deals predicted in 2022
Investment in the device sector is expected to decline as hybrid investors slow down mezzanine investing. M&A should continue to be robust, but the IPO market will be more discerning
The healthcare industry is regaining traction after two years of operational and financial difficulties caused by the pandemic. We will be closely watching the industry as we help our clients navigate the challenges ahead as they shift focus from minimizing the impact of COVID-19 to rebuilding their enterprises. Please feel free to reach out to discuss any of these topics in greater detail
Reference(s):
www.svb.com/trends-insights/reports/healthcare-investments-and-exits.