January Has Been the Best Month Ever for Biotech in Spain

Biotech in Spain has kicked off 2018 setting a record for the number of acquisitions and fundraisings and their total value combined. 

Early in January, the Japanese big pharma Takeda announced its intention to acquire TiGenix for €520M. The cell therapy biotech was born in 2011 as a merger of Belgian TiGenix and Spanish Cellerix, and part of the proceeds will go to Ysios Capital, a leading Spanish biotech investor based in Barcelona.

Soon followed the news fo the acquisition of STAT-Dx, a diagnostics biotech based in Barcelona that also counts with investment from Ysios. Qiagen has offered up to €153M to get hold of its technology.

On top of these big deals, the online investment platform Capital Cell has raised €4.7M that will go into Spanish biotechs, and service provider BDI Biotechnology has closed a €3.9M round.

The year seems off to a good start for European biotech, with the acquisition of Belgian Ablynx, one of the largest biotechs in Europe, for €3.9Bn topping it off at the end of the month. The record for Spanish biotech is definitely a sign that, as its leaders say, the country’s biotech ecosystem is getting up to speed with other countries like the UK, Germany or France.

Picture via NASA Images