The British biotech industry has been making strides over the last two years in gaining the support of new government initiatives that support the business of drug development. But now the BioIndustry Association says the country's biotechs can make a leap forward if the government agrees to adopt a tax-advantaged crowdsourcing plan it believes can generate up to $375 million a year to back a whole new generation of companies.
Taking a page from France's crowdsourced financing program--the Fonds Communs de Placements dans l'Innovation, which has raised more than 6 million euros in the past 15 years--the BIA is calling on the government to allow tax breaks for individuals who invest up to £15,000 a year in Citizens Innovation Funds. Orchestrated under the direction of "dragons' den-style experts," tax advantages would flow to anyone who kept their money invested for more than 5 years.
And the association has some backing from the venture community.
"Raising money through the FCPI scheme has enabled Seventure Partners to back promising companies such as Syntaxin and helps provide another source of capital to support innovation," says Iain Wilcock, an investment advisor at Seventure, which has run FCIP funds. "The introduction of Citizens' Innovation Funds could build on the successful French FCPI model that clearly shows the potential benefits of the scheme to the U.K."
The biotech industry on both sides of the Atlantic has seen a downturn in new venture funds for startup companies, spawning new ideas to generate fresh capital for startups.
- here's the release
Special Report: The Top 15 Biotech Venture Investments in H1 2012