Biomedical financing must not be a casualty of the current downturn

By Karen Petrou

If the funding of small companies is threatened, then vital and transformative research will stop

The writer is Managing Partner of Federal Financial Analytics Each day seems to bring more bad news about US financial-market valuations, with the only cheer to be found in stories speculating that things have got so bad that we’re at “capitulation” or rock bottom. However, there’s one market many of us don’t consider that is struggling: private financing for early-stage biomedical treatments and cures. We should be concerned about the money that’s vanished from a sector essential to easing pain, prolonging life and helping millions to better see, hear, move and even think. Quickly restoring private capital funding for early-stage biomedical research isn’t just about rescuing investors — it can and will save lives. Biomedical finance’s travails are the result of investor stampedes away from any sort of risk.

https://www.ft.com/content/c607105b-eac7-4a60-b509-4905ca23c425