Life Sciences Snapshot – A Quarterly Report on Financing Trends – Q3 2023

This edition of Orrick’s life sciences publication series reviews key trends of venture investment in the life sciences industry during Q2 2023. This edition also features key industry leaders in a roundtable discussion about AI in drug discovery.

Key findings include:

• Life sciences VC deal value in Q2 2023 totaled $6.7 billion across 384 deals, representing a slight increase in value and a moderate decrease in deal count from the previous quarter. YTD deal value of $13.1 billion represents 34.3% of 2022’s annual total.
• Median deal sizes declined moderately for most deal series YTD, including a material 34.4% decline for the latest category of Series D+.
• Median pre-money valuations plateaued YTD for the angel, seed, and late-stage VC categories, while the median valuation for the early-stage VC category (through Series B) grew 18.8% YoY—hitting a record high of $49.9 million.
• Total exit value rose to $2.0 billion in Q2 from $1.4 billion in Q1, but activity remains historically low. Deal value halfway through 2023 represents 19.4% of 2022’s annual total.