Developing drugs is a capital-intensive activity, and never more so than when a biotech company wants to move from preclinical development to more expensive clinical trials. Early on, there are often angel investments and/or academic or government grants, but the most common source when moving into Phase I and II trials is fundraising rounds through syndicates of venture capital funds. It’s a lot to handle for biotech companies, which typically are small startups comprised of scientific founders and researchers.
