Biopharma start-ups had a record-breading quarter in terms of fundraising. A review of biopharma start-up deal-making and financing activity from April through June 2018, based on data from Strategic Transactions.

Born at a time when venture capital found few exit opportunities for early-stage companies, build-to-buy helped mitigate the risk in investing in uncharted science. But the model is flourishing even in this period of wider capital options.

The number of deals signed by biopharma start-ups increased 7% in 2014, which featured a bump in partnerships for infectious disease drugs and multiple option-to-acquire agreements.

The money raised in Series A financings for biopharma, medtech, and diagnostics start-ups is down 8% from the same period last year, but the number of deals is down even more dramatically.