China in the Global Healthcare Ecosystem
Key takeaways
01
VC-backed companies in China raised $6.7B (19% of global investment) in 2020
Biopharma leads other sectors with $3.4B invested, followed by dx/tools with $1.8B
02
Macroeconomic forces have not inhibited cross-border activity
In 2020, there has been an uptick in China-based investors participating in US and European deals
03
VC-backed companies have raised $4B+ on China’s public exchanges
This year, China has seen 18 companies IPO with a $1B+ market cap, led by the biopharma sector.
VC Dollars and Deals by Healthcare Sectors
Q2 2020 sported the second-largest quarter investment total to date for venture-backed healthcare companies in China (led by MGI’s $1B deal and Mabwell’s $278M deal), despite financial market unease and potential company setbacks due to COVID-19.
$1B+ Regions for Healthcare Innovation
Shanghai dominates China’s healthcare funding with $7.2B raised from 2018–2020. For perspective, San Francisco — the second highest-funded city in the world in terms of venture-backed healthcare investment (second only to Cambridge, Mass.) — raised $ 7.4B during this same period.
Biopharma and Dx/tools by Top Indications
China surpassed Europe’s top-funded countries to seal its second-place seat in dx/tools financings. China is also the second-largest source of biopharma funding in the world (behind the US), surpassing the UK more than fourfold.
HealthTech and Device by Top Indications
Both Beijing and Shanghai are neck-and-neck in terms of healthtech deals and dollars across China. And from a geographic standpoint, Shanghai startups consistently receive one-quarter of China’s device funding, which is the largest average percentage of all of China’s cities and provinces.
Cross-Border Investments
In 2020, both deal count and financing totals were up, with Q1 2020 exhibiting the highest deal and dollar numbers on record for syndicated China investments and Q3 2020 funding expected to be nearly 30% higher than Q1 2020.
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