Emerging health companies in Catalonia attracted an investment of 220 million euros last year, half as much as in 2022 because that year recorded three extraordinary operations that totaled 223 million euros. “The sector continues to grow, and many business and research initiatives are being launched that will further boost its development,” said Robert Fabregat, general director of Biocat, who highlighted that “for the fourth consecutive year the investment has exceeded 200 million of euros".
According to data presented today by Biocat, the organization promoted by the Generalitat, Barcelona City Council and employers' associations to promote the biomedical sector in Catalonia, 37 investments were closed in 2023, two more than in the previous year but with a lower average volume. . The largest investments were the rounds in InBrain Neuroelectronics (20 million), Quida (18 million) and Som Biotech (18 million), of a much smaller size than the large rounds of 2022, which were those of Impress (122 million), Minoryx Therapeutics (51 million) and SpliceBio (50).
The report has been presented within the framework of the Barcelona Health Innovation Week, in an event attended by the president of the Generalitat, Pere Aragonés and the most important executives of the sector.
Venture capital, the report states, contributed 52% of the sector's financing in 2023, with 114 million euros, less than half that of last year "due to the difficulties of international financial markets with the rise in rates and the exceptionality of 2022,” said the author of the report, Silvia Labé.
Thus, 58% of investments in new rounds attracted international funds (in 2022 they were 95%), which participated in 13 operations, the first setback in recent years. However, the internationalization of the sector continued to grow and 15 new venture capital firms began to operate in Catalonia.
In 2023, the funds received from competitive aid doubled, reaching 60.8 million euros (27.5% of the total raised by the sector), which helped cover the fall in venture capital. Convertible debt also set a record, with 28 million euros (13%), followed by participatory investment or crowd equity (4%) and the stock market (3.5%).
By activity, the sector was once again led by biotechnology companies, which research new medicines, which raised 110 million euros (compared to 185 million last year). The most important rounds were those of SOM Biotech (17 million euros), Nuage Therapeutics (12 million euros) and Oryzon Genomics (8 million euros).
The only area of activity that grew financially last year, 61%, was digital health, which raised 63 million euros (close to the record of 64 million in 2021). The largest operations were carried out by Qida (18 million euros), Iomed (10 million euros) and Top Doctors (8 million euros).
Beyond investment in innovative companies, Fabregat highlighted the growing weight of the health sector in Catalonia, which represents 7.9% of GDP and employs 264,000 people. The manager pointed out that the Barcelona area has established itself as one of the most relevant health innovation centers in Europe.
In fact, he recalled, the city has 25 hubs of excellence for health companies, among which stands out the one opened by AstraZeneca and Alexion, its minority diseases division, to which it will allocate an investment of 845 million euros that will create a thousand of direct jobs. Biocat data indicates that foreign direct investment in 2023 reached 1,025 million, and will mean the creation of 1,843 new jobs.
