Update on PIPEs

A little while ago, I wrote a post on the attractiveness of PIPEs to some VCs due to valuations. The PIPEs Report released a first quarter review of PIPE transactions in April. Despite a decrease in the overall number of PIPE deals (35% decrease in the total number of deals completed and over 75% decrease in total value), biopharma PIPEs increased. There were 43 biopharma PIPEs out of a total of 101 in Q1. For the same quarter last year, biopharma deals only accounted for 15% of all PIPEs vs. 23% this year. Biopharma companies raised over $600M this quarter on PIPE transactions. It's hard to say whether the attraction of PIPEs will continue or whether VCs will return to more traditional private placements. There is evidence that VCs do add value to public companies that they invest in. It will be interesting to see how these biopharma PIPEs perform in the next year or so.