Venture capital investment in the life sciences has fallen 39 percent over the past three years as the costly, lengthy process of getting approval for pharmaceuticals from the Food and Drug Administration has spurred companies to shift their investments to overseas markets in Europe and Asia.According to the survey of 150 venture capital firms, more [...]

Life sciences venture capital investment in the second quarter jumped 37 percent over the prior quarter on increased exit activity, according to a new report.Life sciences companies raised $2.1 million in the quarter in 206 deals. Deal volume increased 12 percent compared to the first quarter, according to the MoneyTree report. The report was distributed [...]

Among today’s current medical news: MoneyTree’s bad news for life sciences and good news for everyone else; doctor bashing on Twitter; healthcare M & A report; home healthcare is hurting hospitals; Lilly’s Alzheimer’s imaging drug gets FDA approval.

Considering the amount of venture money Minnesota and Wisconsin raised through September, you would assume the states are pretty evenly matched. But numbers are tricky things. First of all, the lion’s share of Wisconsin money came from just two deals. And Minnesota is just beginning to track angel investments — a big deal in Wisconsin.

The nation’s leading venture capital trade association is forming a subgroup to advocate for policies and regulations that it says would bolster medical innovation in the United States.

Highlights of the important and the interesting from the world of healthcare:May ends with flurry of new venture dollars: Medtronic (NYSE: MDT) made the biggest investment during the month, putting $70 million in Israeli medical device company BioControl Medical. Also receiving fresh cash: Boston-based Tesaro secured $60 million in start-up funding; NOXXON Pharma of [...]

As if venture capital firms didn’t have enough to worry about, Uncle Sam lowers another hammer: The House of Representatives Friday passed a bill that would significantly raise taxes on interest VC firms collect on profits from startups that go public or get bought.Tucked into a bill that extends unemployment benefits is a provision that [...]

If patience is a virtue, then Minnesota venture capitalists have become downright saintly.Faced with a weak economy that has stifled initial public offerings and mergers and acquisitions, local investors are still looking for exits well after the funds have closed. Throw in tougher regulatory scrutiny for medical devices and drugs and an exit can suddenly [...]

I’ve been covering Minnesota venture capital for the past three years. Which means I’ve run out of words to describe how bad the state’s venture capital climate has become.So I’ll just let the numbers speak for themselves. Four Minnesota companies received only $20.1 million in venture capital during the first three months of the year, [...]

Highlights of the important and the interesting from the world of healthcare:Ugly first quarter for VCs: The venture capital industry continues to undergo convulsive change, as first-quarter fundraising hit its lowest point since 1993, according to the National Venture Capital Association. Fundraising fell 31 percent to $3.6 billion when compared to last year’s first quarter, [...]