Digital health venture investment has surged in 2013 with dealflow in the third quarter already surpassing 2012. Underscoring that trend, health IT companies will have an increased presence at the upcoming angel and venture investment conference IMPACT venture summit. It reflects the shift of investment dollars coming into the sector and the scaling back of allocations to early stage biotechnology companies.
For a list of health IT and life science companies presenting at IMPACT 2013 click here.
The health IT companies that will pitch to investors reflects the growth of companies offering solutions to meet the demands of health reform outlined in the Affordable Care Act and HITECH Act. Reducing readmissions, remote monitoring tools, making transmission of sensitive patient information more secure, improving patient engagement and making better use of big data for population health analysis are just a few of the areas that are growing in this sector.
When Investment Rhymes with Canada
Canada has a proud history of achievement in the areas of science and technology, and the field of biomanufacturing and life sciences is no exception.
This year the conference is split into dedicated tracks for health IT, healthcare and technology. A health IT panel will focus on consumerism in healthcare and another discussion will look at how to get payers to reimburse medical devices and drugs when they hit the market.
The conference is presented by the Greater Philadelphia Alliance for Capital and Technologies or PACT.
Michael Harrington, a Fox Rothschild partner focused on early and growth stage technology, life science and clean tech companies, is chairing the Philadelphia conference this year. He highlighted some investment trends. He told MedCity News the majority of angel investors are continuing to invest upstream in Series B rounds and decreasing early stage investment.
The increase in health IT companies this year reflects a reduced presence by early stage drug developers as investors have focused on companies with drugs in late stage development where there’s less risk.
There’s been significantly greater involvement from pharma investing in early stage biotech to the point where companies are getting acquired in earlier stages. These deals tend to be structured so that a portion is paid upfront and the rest is dispensed when certain milestones are met. Active family offices are proving to be an interesting source of investment for biotech startups.
“Drug development companies, particular earlier stage companies that need significantly more capital to get going — most of them are struggling.”
