Life Sciences and Internet Technology Bubble : Life sciences dollars jump 37% from first quarter 2011 Internet-specific investments at 10-year high level

Venture capitalists invested $7.5 billion in 966 deals in the second quarter of 2011, investment activity increased 19 percent in terms of both dollars and the number of deals compared to the first quarter of 2011 when $6.3 billion was invested in 814 deals.

The Life Sciences sector (biotechnology and medical device industries combined) saw an increase in VC dollars invested during the second quarter, rising 37 percent in dollars and 12 percent in deal volume from the prior quarter to $2.1 billion going into 206 deals. Investments in Internet-specific companies also rose considerably to the highest quarterly level since 2001.

"The rise in venture capital investments going into the Life Sciences and Internet sectors can be attributed to the increase in exit activity in the Life Sciences sector and attractive valuations for Internet companies," noted Tracy T. Lefteroff, global managing partner of the venture capital practice at PwC US. "The exit market for both biotech and medical device companies has been active over the past year, and this has encouraged VCs to put more money back to work in this space.
At the current pace of venture capital investing, 2011 is on track to exceed $26 billion, which would put it as the sixth most active year in VC investing history."