Life Sciences IPO Boom Leaves Out Medical Devices (WSJ Blogs)
Biotechnology startups have stampeded to the public markets this year, but their colleagues in the medical device field have sat quietly on the sidelines.
So far this year, 27 venture-backed biopharmaceutical companies have gone public, compared to just one medical device company, according to industry tracker Dow Jones VentureSource.
While biopharmas generally go public in greater numbers than medical device companies, the spread has never been this great–in 2007, for example, 19 biopharmas went public, compared to 10 medical device companies, a more representative ratio.
Dating back to 1992, biopharma IPO frequency has ranged from roughly equal to that of medical devices, to double or triple the rate in some years. The biggest spread was in 2000, at the height of the last IPO boom, when 46 biopharmas went public, compared to nine medical device companies.
So could there come a day when people talk about a medical-device IPO boom the way they talk about the biotech boom of today?
Investors in medical devices say yes, that day could come–but a lot of stars will have to line up before it happens.
“I’m optimistic that you ...
