Private investment in the Spanish biotechnology sector exceeded 180 million euros in 2021, setting a new all-time high. The figure was announced by the Spanish Bioindustry Association (AseBio) on AseBio Investor Day 2022, which was held in Madrid with the support of ICEX Spain Trade and Investment, and with the participation of the Director of Financing and Investor Relations at ICEX-Invest in Spain.

The increase in financing is particularly significant with regard to private foreign investment, and even more so when compared to 2020, growing by no less than 20%. Some of these transactions were also supported by the more than 20 million euros contributed to the Spanish biotech sector by the CDTI's Innvierte programme in 2021. 

Under the spotlight
The association's CEO, Ion Arocena, said that international players continue to have the sector in their sights, whether these are foreign companies that buy Spanish firms, or investors that provide capital as a trust deposit.

In fact, the number of capital increase transactions involving international investors remained constant in 2021, but exceeded 100 million euros in volume. A total of nine Spanish biotech companies received capital from Belgium, the United Kingdom, the United States, the Netherlands, Portugal, France, Switzerland, Italy, Germany and Singapore.

Acquisition of Sanifit
In terms of acquisitions, the most significant deal in the sector last year was the acquisition of Sanifit by Vifor Pharma. The Swiss company paid €205 million in advance, plus a further 170 million euros conditional on reaching certain milestones and payments subject to sales of hundreds of millions of euros.

As well as the boost from investors and buyers, AseBio also detected an increase of more than 70% in funding through loans and equity stakes from business development organisations in 2021.

Investment in R&D
AseBio President Ana Polanco highlighted the following with regard to the data, “The biotech ecosystem in our country has been transformed over the last two decades,, growing to become an industry recognised for its economic impact and for its heavy investment in R&D. And access to investment has been key in this process of growth and consolidation.”

A total of 55 investors from 12 countries were present at AseBio Investor Day 2022, an event the association aims to use to promote access to funding, by acting as a point of connection between the major national and international investors specialising in life sciences and Spanish biotech companies. As Polanco stated, “Now more than ever, the sector is focused on transforming the science of today into the industry of the future. This is because we are a sector with a commitment to providing solutions for the society we live in.”

^{Photo: AseBio}