To IPO… or not to IPO

We have recently added 12 venture funded companies to our M&A analysis of European therapeutic companies acquired post-IPO. As expected, those companies were acquired at a later developed stage.

As previously highlighted most European venture capital funded therapeutic companies are acquired after receiving less than EUR 45M in venture capital funding ().

Does this observation indicate that if an M&A is not in place before EUR 45M invested, then an IPO is necessary to develop the company into an interesting M&A opportunity?

Does this highlight how dependent European Life Science Venture Capital is on a well-functioning public market to benchmark with our US colleagues?

Today we are listing Galecto Biotech on NASDAQ – and hope that in few years we can include a Galecto Biotech M&A in our M&A analysis :-). Until then, well done and good luck to Hans T. Schambye and his team.

What do you think?
Let us know in our feed on LinkedIn:

Sunstone is delighted to announce that experienced biotech executive and CEO of Galecto Hans T. Schambye will be joining our team as new Venture Partner as of 1st February 2025.

With a background as an MD and PhD Hans brings to Sunstone over 25 years of experience within corporate strategy, drug discovery and development and financing of biotech companies.

Prior to co-founding Galecto, Hans served as the CEO of ReceptIcon from 2006 to 2009 and as the CEO of Gastrotech Pharma A/S from 2004 to 2006. Before joining Gastrotech, he was Director of Biology and Pharmacology and Head of Portfolio Management at Maxygen, a US biotech company. Hans has co-founded several biotech companies, including ProFound Pharma A/S, a Danish biotech company acquired by Maxygen in 2000. Hans has also served on a number of biotech company boards, including Step Pharma and IO Biotech (both in our portfolio), as well as Forward Pharma, which secured a +billion USD deal with Biogen. Prior to this he had a successful research career at Stanford University and Copenhagen University within the field of receptor biology. Hans holds an MD from Odense University and a PhD in Molecular Pharmacology from Copenhagen University.

Besides his positions as Galecto CEO and member of BioInnovation Institute’s Board, Hans is the Chairman of the Board of Danish Bio, working tirelessly to promote innovation, research and development in life science in Denmark.

As Venture Partner, Hans will participate in qualifying our deal flow and providing supportive feedback to entrepreneurs that reach out to Sunstone. He will complement Sunstone’s other three part-time Venture Partners to help ensure Sunstone maintains access to a broader set of competencies and experiences.

We look forward to welcoming Hans and we are confident that his extensive experience will greatly benefit Sunstone.

5 latest press releases

Hans T. Scambye joins Sunstone as Venture Partner

Sunstone is delighted to announce that experienced biotech executive and CEO of Galecto Hans T. Schambye will be joining our team as new Venture Partner as of 1st February 2025. With a background as an MD and PhD Hans brings to Sunstone over 25 years of experience...

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