Canadian biotech private equity investment has grown steadily over the past four years, but appears to have hit its peak in 2021 – in 2022, the value of biotech equity financings failed to match the record levels of the previous year (2022: USD 599 million vs. 2021: USD 841 million).
Ontario is Canada’s most active province, with more than half of the total 4,719 Canadian life sciences companies concentrated there, followed by Quebec, British Columbia and Alberta. Three of the five largest private equity financing rounds in 2022 are from companies headquartered in the city of Montreal, Quebec.
As for the coming years, Canada’s five-pillar biomanufacturing and life sciences growth strategy and the government’s recently announced Strategic Innovation Fund are expected to spur innovation and attract investment opportunities in the country’s life sciences sector.
We would like to thank our partners Ontario Bioscience Innovation Organization, BioAlberta, and Montréal InVivo, with whom this year’s report was produced.