The Role of Venture Capital in Drug Discovery

Timing is everything, they say. But nowhere has this adage held truer than in building a neurology-focused biotech business. Four years ago, with failure after failure in the neurodegenerative disease area in Alzheimers, ALS, Huntingtons, Parkinsons and other dreaded neurological diagnoses, the appetite for neurodegenerative disease research was sidelined in nearly every major pharmaceutical company, and shunned by investors in startup and early-stage biotech companies. Then, suddenly a small glimmer of hope emerges from Biogen with aducanumab, and from Lilly with donanemab, and then from Biogen/Eisai with lecanemab. However, in what one would think would be a watershed moment to trigger more investment in the space, the excitement is just as quickly muted by other forces. While discretion around investments in the current economic environment may be high, there is still a significant amount of funding available for investments that meet the criteria outlined in this chapter.