Key Takeaways
The healthcare innovation economy in 2025 is complicated. Fundraising dollars are down, but overall, private markets are looking better than they have in years. AI may not change the face of clinical care, but it’s coming into its own behind the scenes as a valuable tool for tackling long-standing industry pain points. China is attracting a lot more biopharma licensing activity, but that hasn’t negatively impacted American biopharma M&A investment.
$3B Total US healthcare VC fundraising in H1 2025
The healthcare innovation economy is on track for its worst fundraising year in more than a decade.
~2x Growth in healthtech AI deals in trailing 12 month deal activity since 2022
Healthtech has seen the biggest share of the AI healthcare boom.
$3B Total spending on Chinese biopharma licensing deals in the first half of 2025
That’s more than was spent in all of 2024.
Fundraising is way down
US healthcare VC fundraising totaled $3B in the first half of 2025, representing a steep drop from 2024 and potentially healthcare’s worst year in more than a decade.
Economic and political uncertainty have throttled fundraising as LPs worry about returns and the healthcare industry struggles with cuts to research and federal spending.
Note: The methodology for this analysis has changed from previous reports to include funds that list healthcare-related sectors as a core area of focus. Estimates are based on weighted fund totals and anecdotal conversations with investors. Data as of 6/30/2025.
Source: PitchBook Data, Inc., Preqin and SVB proprietary analysis.
Note: All 2025 data is as of 6/30/2025.
Source: American Medical Association, PitchBook Data, Inc. and SVB proprietary analysis.
AI is driving a healthtech surge
Trailing 12 month healthtech AI deal activity has grown ~2x since 2022 and accounted for nearly a third of all healthcare investment in the first half of 2025.
Healthcare-specific AI models, pure software drug-discovery platforms and myriad new administrative tools have furnished healthtech with attractive investment opportunities.
China is becoming a go-to for biopharma research
Spending on Chinese biopharma licensing deals has grown from less than $1B in 2022 to more than $3B in the first half of 2025 alone.
Chinese research is mainly focused on incremental changes and improvements to existing drugs, but that's Big Pharma’s bread and butter.
Note: All 2025 data is as of 6/30/2025.
Source: DealForma, PitchBook Data, Inc. and SVB proprietary data.
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