Matthew Fust

#VentureCapital is flowing again into #biotech, but the slower pace of investments can impact the ways CEOs are being compensated.   CEO & Managing Partner Leslie Loveless offers her perspectives on the topic in this insightful new article in BioSpace.    She explains that pay packages and one’s appetite for risk help determine whether a CEO candidate is right for the job.   “There are a lot of people that are very drawn to the higher-risk, higher-reward scenario that you see in biotech, and if that is what you’re drawn to, great. Go for it,” Loveless said. “But if that is not how you are wired, if that’s not in your DNA, then I would encourage folks to appreciate that about themselves. And don’t go into a negotiation with a biotech wanting them to pay you like they are Big Pharma, because they’re not going to. That’s not how they’re wired.”   We appreciate the coverage, Angela Gabriel!   #lifesciences #executivesearch

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Join us tomorrow for a panel discussion on the complex relationship many FirstGens have to money and how that affects founders, investors, operators and others. See you tomorrow! https://lu.ma/9rixyzgs

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Exciting news for startups! California accounts for about 50% of all venture investments. The not-so-secret reason is that non-competes are illegal in California, so engineers at FAANGs can build competitors without fear. Today, the US Federal Trade Commission declared non-compete agreements illegal nationwide. This means that engineers at big tech companies can now leave and build their own companies without fear of violating a non-competes (legacy agreements for executives are still enforceable - talk to your lawyer), this is a step in the right direction for fostering innovation and competition across the country. A variety of big-business groups have vowed to sue to bring non-competes back, but at least for now, they're gone! #startups #innovation #competition #noncompete Official Announcement: https://lnkd.in/gRXUpgDy Impending lawsuit: https://lnkd.in/gqSiVuTd

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Discover 10 big pharma and biotech companies that have spun out their own venture capital arms to invest in startups in the industry. #venturecapital #veteranventures

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The healthcare landscape is rapidly evolving, driven by advancements in technology and a deeper understanding of patient care. I had the pleasure of speaking with Ambar Bhattacharyya, Co-Managing Partner at Maverick Ventures, on the latest episode of The Full Ratchet. Ambar has partnered with numerous billion-dollar companies like hims & hers, Cityblock Health, Devoted Health, and ConcertAI. His unique journey from rural America to becoming a prominent figure in venture capital offers invaluable insights into the future of healthcare and technology. We discuss his investment strategy at Maverick Ventures, the megatrends shaping healthcare, the impact of AI on the industry, and the importance of integrated care. Ambar also shares his thoughts on the challenges and opportunities in healthcare investment, offering a comprehensive view of what lies ahead. Check out TFR Episode 438 to catch our conversation. You'll be glad you listened.

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Abby Levy talks about venture's role in US healthcare and what we can expect to see as technology impacts the space on TFR. Check out the rest of the conversation with Abby & Alan Patricof of Primetime Partners on Episode 433.

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Last week, mid-market companies were trading hands faster than picks at the NFL draft. 10 notable MM PE deals from the past week: ➡️ Incline Equity Partners invested in VMG Health, a TX-based compliance, strategy, and transaction advisory firm serving the healthcare industry. ➡️ Serent Capital acquired Medical Informatics Engineering, Inc., a provider of healthcare IT software for the occupational health market. ➡️ Celebrity Coaches, LLC, a TN-based portfolio company of Allied Industrial Partners, acquired Moonstruck Leasing, an entertainment coach leasing company. ➡️ Granite Creek Capital Partners, L.L.C. in partnership with Boathouse Capital, invested in DCG, a full-service strategic comms firm serving federal government clients. ➡️ Apax Digital invested in IANS, a MA-based provider of research and advisory services for the infosec market. ➡️ The Stephens Group, LLC partnered with VisionSafe Corporation - EVAS, a HI-based provider of aircraft cockpit smoke displacement systems. ➡️ Gamut Capital Management is set to acquire DEX Imaging, a provider of managed print services across industries. ➡️ Century Park Capital Partners acquired Total Access Elevator, a CA-based provider of commercial elevator modernization, maintenance, and repair services. ➡️  Shoreline Equity Partners invested in Prime Meats LLC, a GA-based processor and distributor of proteins. ➡️ Family office CC Industries acquires Foremark Performance Chemicals, a producer of formaldehyde and derivatives for the petrochemicals industries. #PrivateEquity #MergersandAcquisitions #Acquisitions #PE #Acquisitions

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SFBN Feed: Personalis CEO Chris Hall leads a cancer detecting trailblazer https://lnkd.in/gU2r_N8T Finding cancer earlier, and detecting it after treatment, is just part of what sets Personalis apart. Click here to view original post Click Here to Publish/Feature Your Company or Product News with Biotech Networks #BayArea #SanFrancisco #Biotech #Lifescience #News

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Is private equity owned healthcare a positive or a negative in regard to real health outcomes for patients? I asked Ambar Bhattacharyya of Maverick Ventures this question and more on Episode 438 of The Full Ratchet. Tune into the show to catch our discussion.

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Biopharma Funding & Emerging Start-Up Update June 10-14th ‘24 Newly launched biotechnology startups w/ ADC pipelines and more funding events… Get this weekly • https://lnkd.in/gDGtEEyy – 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐅𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 – Santa Ana Bio, Inc. 💸  Launched with $168 million in funding from combined Series A and B rounds to advance its precision immunology pipeline. The lead asset is SAB03, targeting autoimmune and inflammatory diseases, clinical trials are planned for 2025. Amber Therapeutics 💸  Closed $100M Series A funding led by New Enterprise Associates (NEA) to advance Amber-UI for Mixed Urinary Incontinence (MUI) through pilot and pivotal studies toward regulatory approval in the US. Alzheon, Inc. | Preserving Future Memories 💸  Raised $100M in Series E round led by Alerce Medical Technology Partners to fund the completion of its Ph 3 study for lead candidate (ALZ-801) for Alzheimer's disease (AD) later this year. Adcytherix 💸  Launched with €30M in seed funding led by Pontifax to develop next-generation novel ADCs for the treatment of different diseases such as cancer. Moleculent 💸  Launched with $26M Series A financing led by ARCH Venture Partners to study cell-to-cell interaction.  – 𝐏𝐨𝐬𝐭-𝐈𝐏𝐎/𝐏𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐜 𝐅𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 – Avidity Biosciences, Inc. 🏦  Announced pricing of $400.9M public offering. Ultragenyx 🏦  Announced pricing of $350M public offering. Abeona Therapeutics 🏦  Filed for $300M securities offering to fund BLA resubmission and pz-cel commercialization Disc Medicine 🏦  Announced  $178M public offering. Replimune 🏦  Announced $100M private placement financing to support a potential launch of RP1. At BiopharmIQ by Amp we maintain biopharma data to help with your sales/BD activities. 📰 Each week we share clinical/regulatory/funding news in an easy-to-digest format. #biotech #biopharma

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This week Mikal Ventures brings you a 4-week breakdown of the US capital market with an emphasis on the Mikal verticals. Over the 4-week period ending April 15, just over 900 new companies were added, with 94,109 companies included in the US Health Tech, Med Tech, Fin Tech, AI Tech, and Ed Tech verticals. AI Tech again saw the greatest percentage of growth in new companies and transactions, weighing in at over double the vertical averages for the period. The US Fin Tech vertical again led the way in SEC Filings and news articles. Mikal Ventures publishes these stats on a rolling 4-week basis to provide a perspective on how the verticals and new startups move through time. We hope you find them informative and thought-provoking. VC Investors are always adjusting their "Play Book" with a variety of options for investing. Mikal Ventures is one of those alternatives, offering curated solutions to real world problems. Reach out if you have questions on how we can be of assistance and bookmark https://mikalventures.com/ for additional insights and information.

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Our partner Eddie Eltoukhy has identified these opportunities in Biotech. Eddie has a PhD in bioengineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and over a decade experience as an operator. Reach out to him if you are working on these areas of biotech. Pear VC - Technology-Driven Therapeutic Platforms Companies developing therapeutic assets with a core product engine Proprietary tool, workflow, or samples leading to novel biological data sets Preference for omics platforms or high throughput screening / engineering workflows First-in-class or best-in-class drugs - Next-Generation Therapeutic Modalities Technologies to improve the efficacy, safety, access, or reach of next-gen modalities including the following: Genomic medicines (gene tx & gene editing) Cell therapies Targeted protein degraders Antibody-drug conjugates Radiopharma - Precision Medicine New technologies supporting the discovery of novel biomarkers and the generation of proprietary data sets for applications in: Disease screening Therapy selection Recurrence monitoring - Life Sciences + AI Software Platforms Software & AI-driven platforms to improve all aspects of life sciences R&D, including: Target discovery and validation Drug design and optimization Manufacturing Regulatory Clinical development

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Last week I had the pleasure of being on The Exit, which is hosted by Steve McGarry and presented by Flippa.com. In this episode, I talk about my exits from MeMD and NextCare. At the end of the episode, I discuss how I time my ventures and how I live life as a serial entrepreneur. #businessexit #exitstrategy #entrepreneur #businesstips #healthcareleadership

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I recently had the pleasure of speaking with and learning from several software execs from our portfolio companies and industry experts during Thoma Bravo's AI Summit in Miami. It was great to share our insights into trends and practices we see in our portfolio and how we manage opportunities and risks. At TB, we have a long history of guiding enterprise software companies through digital transformation, and we’re already navigating the transition driven by generative AI. Our focus is on managing this new innovation by absorbing the technology to bring meaningful benefits to our portfolio companies and indirectly to their customers. And it’s evolving fast! We see our portfolio companies today using gen AI in generally three ways: first, to create new products and provide customers with incremental use cases. Second, to defend against cyber attacks that have become much more sophisticated by bad actors. And third, as an enabler of talent to make business operations run more efficient and productive. In our view, AI presents a significant growth opportunity, but we also believe that to really maximize that potential, companies should carefully evaluate the risks and be thoughtful about governance, trust, security and data privacy. AI is poised to accelerate innovation and it’s hard to predict the full, transformative potential of AI, but we are confident that some of the advantages of incumbent knowledge and data will be key to unlocking its value.

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This analysis, at least anecdotally makes sense to me. In many situations, infringe and holdout is the least painful option for large infringers. The system enables it. - The plaintiff must allocate the time and $$ to assert, taking time and $$ away from selling and developing products. Even if they engage litigation financiers they are limiting their upside potential. - The infringer continues to infringe while employing stall tactics or simply relying on the painfully slow, overburdened legal system. - The cost benefit analysis for infringers - "infringe and pay lawyers" typically outweighs the cost of design around or license. - Enhanced damages and injunctions are rare. - Litigation insurance products reduce risk all around. "The Marcum report shows that there is indeed something wrong with the patent system in the United States but it’s not excessive litigation or patent trolls. The real problem is the inability of patent owners to enforce their rights against infringers. Given the difficulty of obtaining injunctive relief and the limited enhancement of damages, it is unsurprising that predatory infringement has become a standard business practice when, at worst, all an infringer can be expected to pay is a reasonable royalty and, at best, nothing at all."

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**Is Biotech Back? Exploring the New Investment Landscape in 2024** 🔬 After a turbulent few years, 2024 signals a return to normalcy for the biotechnology industry. Venture investments have stabilized at pre-pandemic levels, with U.S. biotechs raising $3.8 billion in Q1 alone. If this pace continues, 2024 will match last year's $15 billion in venture funding. 📈 Despite this stability, venture firms are more selective, favoring clinical-stage companies with seasoned management teams over early-stage startups. This shift is accompanied by an increased preference for M&A and partnerships over IPOs, reflecting the broader economic environment and investor strategies. 💡 For the biotech sector, this means a more focused, strategic investment approach, paving the way for sustained growth and innovation. #biotech #venturecapital #investment #M&A #IPO #biotechnology #lifesciences #clinicaltrials #innovation #biotechinvestment #startups #pharma #venturefunding #economicgrowth #strategicinvestment #healthcare #drugdevelopment #investmenttrends #biopharma #fintech #healthtech #biotechnews #biotechstartups #biotechindustry #biotechresearch #healthcareinnovation #clinicalresearch #VCfunding #pharmapartnerships #industrytrends #biotechfunding

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Earlier this year, we surveyed our fellow Los Angeles-based GPs to get a pulse check on the LA venture ecosystem. Here’s what we found: 💗 Deal flow is healthy, and most LA venture investors (68%) are seeing the same or more deal flow YoY. ✈ LA investors are spending time in a variety of markets, with NYC, Austin, and SF following closely on LA’s heels. 🔍 Innovation is concentrated in AI and machine learning, space, and commerce. 💸 Funding is happening, but it’s barbell-shaped, with deals concentrated at the early and late stages. Funding post-Series A has been challenging. 🚩 LA is differentiated, but not without its challenges. Key difficulties include not attracting enough AI talent (despite having the largest number of engineers graduating from our region over any other in the United States); talent relocated to more tax-friendly or less expensive locations; and the great SoCal / NoCal divide 🙏 Thank you to all our many respondents! I’m so glad to be part of a venture ecosystem that includes great minds like Anna Barber, Brent Murri, W. Christine Choi, Sarah Tomolonius, Rob Smith, Win Chevapravatdumrong, John Tabis, Jill Royster, Jesse Draper, Ashley Balla, Britt Danneman, Tram Lai, Carmen Palafox, Elaine Russell, Deborah Benton Amanda Schutzbank, Brian Lee, Petra Griffith, Minnie Ingersoll, Shamin Walsh, Gabe Greenbaum...wow, this list could go on forever...plus too many other exceptional humans to name. You know who you are! Explore our findings more deeply with our survey dashboard: https://bit.ly/3JsaLaB

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