After a rocky two years, money has started flowing back to biotech, with the return of the megaround exemplified in the $1 billion fundraise of 2024’s top moneymaker, Xaira Therapeutics. Few biotechs can expect to collect $1 billion in financing in one fell swoop, but the artificial-intelligence-focused company did just that. It reeled in the eye-popping sum in April, and no other biotech managed to come close to Xaira’s massive haul last year. The second-largest private placement was secured by the uber-secretive Treeline Biosciences, which raised $421.8 million toward the end of last summer. Hot on the cancer-focused company’s tail, Kailera Therapeutics and Mirador Therapeutics tied for third place with $400 million each. The massive fundraises underscore an ongoing pattern in industry funding: Higher overall figures are driven in part by megarounds in AI and obesity, where big VCs keep scoring but smaller firms are less successful. Meanwhile, challenges in obtaining follow-on funding—specifically series B financings—discouraged early-stage activity, such as series A rounds and seed raises, according to HSBC’s 2024 Annual Venture Healthcare Report. Instead, investors favored large syndicates, particularly for companies incubated by VCs, or later-stage, derisked opportunities, per HSBC.

Full report : Biotech’s top money raisers of 2024.