Catalan health startups continue to break investment records despite the economic slowdown and the uncertainties hovering over the market. After surpassing the 200 million euro barrier for the first time in 2020, raising a total of 226 million euros, the ecosystem did it again in 2021, with 238 million euros. The climb has not only continued but the figure raised a year ago has almost doubled to 445 million euros.
This is according to the annual report prepared by Biocat to X-ray the sector, which already represents 8.7% of Catalan GDP and is made up of 1,350 companies and a hundred research institutions, with an aggregated workforce of 247,600 workers. "The year 2022 has undoubtedly been a historic year," defends the general director of Biocat, Robert Fabregat, "the ecosystem has continued to grow in most indicators, despite the unstable international situation."
The 2022 figures have been marked by the 122 million macro-round closed by Impress in the middle of the year, the first so high to be registered in the history of the health sector and confirming the leadership of medical technologies. In fact, the startup, specialized in digital treatments for invisible orthodontics, already managed to make the investment raised in the first semester exceed the total for 2021, reaching 238 million. Even so, without the operation of the medtech Impress, the sector would have continued to exceed last year's investment, attracting 323 million euros.
The increase in the value of the rounds shows the maturity and resilience of the sector, with other examples such as the biotech companies Minoryx Therapeutics, with 51 million euros, and SpliceBio, with 50 million euros. In fact, biotechnology companies have also set a new record, with 185 million euros, three times more than last year, when it was 66 million euros. While medical technologies and biotechnologies continue to grow, the investment raised by digital health companies has decreased for the first time in five years and has fallen by 40% compared to 2021, with only 39 million euros.
A total of 35 operations are behind these record figures, one less than in 2021, but with a higher average amount. Venture capital continues to be the main source of financing, contributing 343 million euros, 77% of the total. Competitive aid followed, with 53 million euros (12%), the highest figure in history and almost doubling the figures achieved in previous years. The European Innovation Council (EIC Accelerator) and the Center for Industrial Technological Development (CDTI) have been the main contributors to this.
Foreign investment has also set new milestones, achieving its participation in 95% of the capital raised, another sign of the solidity of the Catalan ecosystem. Specifically, the number of international investment funds has reached 117, a figure that has doubled in the last three years. They mainly come from Europe, the United States, and Asia, with firms such as Kurma, Idinvest, Gilde Healthcare, Fund+, or Wellington Partners. Furthermore, for the first time, 11 operations were fully backed by international investors. The consolidation of local funds such as Ysios Capital, Alta Life Sciences, Asabys Partners, Inveready, or Nina Capital also strengthens international collaboration.
More than 1,200 active clinical trials
The business dynamism demonstrated by the health sector also extends to research, as stated in the Biocat report. Catalan hospitals have more than 1,200 active clinical trials, participating in 75% of those carried out in the rest of Spain. Half are dedicated to oncology, followed by cardiovascular diseases, ophthalmology, the central nervous system, mental health, and rare diseases. Pharmaceutical multinationals such as Novartis, Roche, AstraZeneca, Janssen, Boehringer Ingelheim, Bayer, Pfizer, and Sanofi are developing trials in the autonomous community. In addition, Catalonia ranks fifth in Europe in terms of scientific publications per million inhabitants, at a level comparable to countries such as Sweden, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Denmark.