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The Mid-Atlantic Bio Angels (MABA) Summit panel on “Evaluating AI in Pharma and Biotech: Hype vs. Reality” took place on October 15, 2024, at the Wilson Sonsini office in Manhattan. This insightful session explored how AI is transforming life sciences, equipping investors with tools to identify impactful innovation while avoiding overhyped solutions. Moderated by Alex Pederson, the panel featured Eric Schultz (Ocean Genomics), Josh Gaffey (Pfizer), and Saber Meamardoost (Regeneron), who provided invaluable insights into AI’s potential in the industry.

Lessons Learned

• Collaborative Opportunities, Not Just Acquisitions: Pharma companies see partnerships with AI-driven firms as more beneficial than acquisitions. These collaborations [ Read more… ]
  

-By Anthony Gellert

There’s never been a better time to invest in early-staged startups. Full stop.

Yes, there was a banking crisis in Silicon Valley. Yes, we are still brushing off the effects of the pandemic. Yes, these are very risky assets. But most important, all the asset classes that rely on low interest rates and a bull market are in real trouble. Interest rates are now too low to fully guard against inflation. And too high to make equities the obvious first choice. This especially includes later-staged VC, which relies on frothy IPO markets in which to sell their portfolio companies.

Early-staged [ Read more… ]

MABA is regularly approached by companies seeking funds for their life sciences startups (therapeutics, devices, diagnostics and digital health). One of the first things we discuss is their total funding needs to reach an exit, and the difference between angel and venture capital (VC). Understanding the difference can help you set the best strategy for your company. Once you have reached the stage where it is time to raise funds, some companies are better suited for, or would prefer angel funding, while others are more appropriate for venture capital.

There are many differences between angel investors and VCs, including the source [ Read more… ]

“And just like that, he’s gone”

For fans of the movie The Usual Suspects, that line captured what it was like to wake up to the investment reality of 2022.

2020 and 2021 were banner years for companies going public any way they could, including SPACs, which skyrocketed in popularity in 2020 but had fallen back to earth by the end of last year.  These exits provided returns to their investors, which resulted in more and new investors who went on to raise new and larger funds.

And now all this new money was looking for more and more investment opportunities, to which [ Read more… ]