iPSC Market Overview

In this report you can find an overview and analysis of the following across the iPSC market:

  • Summary of iPS-derived cell therapy development landscape and key clinical trials
  • IPO and private financing activity and performance​
  • Public market performance relative to the NASDAQ Biotechnology Index
  • Deal activity for strategic partnership and M&A

Induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) research has encapsulated a global market of scientists, clinicians, and investors and has quickly become the foundation for new regenerative medicines.

  • Although there are no approved therapies, nearly 100 iPSC trials are ongoing spanning oncology, cardiology, neurology, and ophthalmology with ≈40% of those trials as observational.
  • The versatility of iPS cells is seen with the breadth of iPS-derived cell types in clinical trials including NK-, T-, pancreatic beta, mesenchymal, neural, and cardiac cells.

Challenges of safety and efficacy are buoyed by advantages of efficacy, cellular plasticity, and the possibility of isogenic control cell lines which has translated to healthy deal volume and IPO successes in the iPSC sector

  • The majority of companies in the iPSC space remain private but the IPO market of iPSC-based companies has been very active the last 24 months with multiple companies garnering market caps >$1B.
  • 2020 marked a landmark high year of strategic transactions with 7 deals totaling >$4B as discovery or preclinical assets in a variety of therapeutic areas whereas deals before 2018 were frequently Phase 1 or later.
  • Private financing for iPSCs has focused heavily on early-stage assets; 2020-2021 saw significant financing volume increase in the Series A round with top common investors such as OrbiMed, ARCH Venture Partners, Bain Life Science, and Novartis.