“Small companies are the lifeblood of the industry and a lot of what they do, and what they’re experiencing, greatly affects the industry as a whole,” said Chad Wessel, Director of Industry Analysis at the Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO).
He spoke with Bio.News in an interview about BIO’s 2025 report, “The State of Emerging Biotech Companies: Investment, Deal, and Pipeline Trends,” focused on the biotech industry from the early-stage perspective. As researchers found, the current landscape is challenging, but there are still opportunities.
“In the last couple years, we’ve had a little bit of a contraction of the industry. During COVID, we kind of had this sugar rush for the industry,” said Wessel. “A lot of companies were being created. A lot of money was being thrown out there. A lot more companies were being funded. And in the last couple of years, there has been a little bit more of a correction, and we’re seeing funding levels going down to what we’ve seen prior to COVID.”
“But when you add on other challenges, like the political landscape and everything, it is leaning towards a very challenging environment for a lot of companies,” he continued.
Bearish venture capital
“In venture capital, yes, you have a lot of money, but it’s going to fewer companies at higher average amounts,” explained Wessel. “It’s creating this competitive haves and have-nots type marketplace or environment. So it just makes it a lot more competitive and more challenging to raise funds.”
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