Several immunology asset-based companies raised rounds of more than $100 million in 2022.
Asset-based biotechs—those that are developing more traditional assets for specific indications—accounted for the remaining third of VC funding in 2022. McKinsey analysis grouped asset-based companies according to their primary therapeutic area of focus or that of the lead asset. In 2022, immunology stood out as a clear area of heightened interest, capturing 23 percent of total asset-based company funding—a significant jump from previous years (Exhibit 5). Several immunology asset-based companies raised rounds of more than $100 million in 2022. This trend toward immunology aligns with the growing interest in regenerative cell therapies noted earlier, with most of those efforts focused on reversing immune drivers of disease. In 2022, VC funding supported a spectrum of immunology assets, ranging from companies focused on new therapeutic targets such as components of the inflammasome to those that offer improvements in tissue specificity and treatment administration of established targets such as IL-17 and TNF-alpha.