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How the Fund-Raising Game Works in Europe

 
• By Melanie Senior

A handful of private European biotechs have raised money, but the process takes time, and the sums aren't great. Since VCs can invest in late-stage companies at the same prices they used to pay for newer ventures, early and mid-stage biotechs are being forced to broaden their search for funds, and meet growing demands for cost cutting and detailed spending plans. Both VCs and biotechs may emerge stronger from the squeeze, however.

Despite barely-twitching public markets and few signs of an upturn, some European biotechs are raising money (see Exhibit 1). Not that the sums are great: many smaller European firms who can't find new investors have resorted to internal, "bridging" rounds, such as that of France's genOway SA[See Deal]. CellFactors PLC, unable to convince institutional investors of their worth, has had to make do for now with the £2.5 million ($4 million) provided by retail/private investors [See Deal].

But European biotech fundraising in 2003 isn't all confined to single digits. In March 2003, German drug discovery group

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