Cleveland-based BioEnterprise Corporation reports that investors shelled out $88 million into Northeast Ohio's emerging health care and biotech companies in last year. That figure represents a nearly 50% drop from 2005. But BioEnterprise President Baiju Shah says it's not necessarily bad news for biotechnology in the region. He says two exceptionally large business deals in 2005 skewed the investment numbers for that year.
Baiju Shah: Well, 2005 was really the aberration. 2006 is the continued trend line that is showing the upward trend and the number of companies that receive money is a leading indicator of how many more that are in the pipeline for second, third rounds in the future that will be larger dollars.
A total of 23 Cleveland-area health care companies received investments last year, outpacing Minneapolis-St. Paul, a biotech venture capital leader in the Midwest. The report shows venture capitalists largely invested in companies that provide medical devices, biopharmaceuticals, and healthcare software.
Last year, BioEnterprise ranked Ohio third in total dollars invested in midwest biotech companies - behind Minnesota and Michigan. Tasha Flournoy, 90.3.