Israeli Pharma Venture Capital Seen Surging

Studies indicate that the final quarter of 2004 attracted almost unprecedented levels of local investment in Israel's pharmaceuticals sector. For the full year 2004, venture capital investment as a whole increased by 59% to US$1.2bn.

Investment growth in the pharmaceuticals sector is reported to have surged in the final quarter to US$130mn, more than double the previous three-month period's level of US$63mn and a substantial increase on the 2003 figure of US$40mn. The trends match those in the US, with biotechnology ventures attracting high levels of private funding.

Israel's drug research sector has expanded notably in the past 12-18 months, as a number of start-up projects linked to academic research have received substantial funds. The country's drug spending is expected to be worth US$1.8bn by 2007, although a successful outcome to intellectual property negotiations with the US and EU could act as a catalyst for multinational investment, boosting local R&D spending still further.