COVID-19 has introduced new challenges (and more attorneys) into the biopharma deal-making environment, but experts say the fundamentals for deal activity point toward a rebound. Companies that adapt quickly to changes – in communication, due diligence and deal structure – will make successful connections in a time of social distancing.

Disruptions in the supply/demand configuration of generic drugs have plagued US health care for years. Picket Pharmaceuticals, a new start-up founded by a biostatistician veteran of Africa’s war on HIV, is using the illuminating powers of big data to stabilize the generics supply chain and find untapped areas of value among thousands of products in a business that remains a mystery to physicians, payers and patients alike.

The pharmaceutical industry is more diverse today in terms of nationality and culture. However, there is still a lack of other types of diversity, which blocks the proactive inclusion of different perspectives. Raafi-Karim Alidina, a consultant with global diversity and inclusion consultancy Frost Included and the co-author of Building An Inclusive Organisation, shares his thoughts. 

The use of virtual, real-time and at-home testing to provide clinical trials data has been steadily gaining the interest of the health care industry. COVID-19 has put this opportunity into sharper focus, says CNS trials technology developer Cambridge Cognition, which is now adding a voice option to its portfolio.

ResMed’s respiratory device portfolio has put it front and center of the global medtech industry’s efforts to bring COVID-19 under control. UK and Ireland country manager Antoine Valterio tells In Vivo how the company rose to the challenge, and how providers are now seeing digital technologies in a new light.

Roy Jakobs was appointed internally to head connected care at Philips on 28 January, shortly before COVID-19 forced the first of many lockdowns around the world. The disruption prompted a rapid rethink of priorities, which has shown opportunities for lasting health care system change.

A selection of features you might have missed from the first six months of 2020, covering key topics from COVID-19 strategies in medtech to an analysis of pipeline focus areas across the pharma sector. Click on each section to get the full story behind the data. 

Roy Jakobs was appointed internally to head connected care at Philips on 28 January, shortly before COVID-19 forced the first of many lockdowns around the world. The disruption prompted a rapid rethink of priorities, which has shown opportunities for lasting health care system change.

The Alvogen group of companies has unveiled Adalvo as the new identity for its B2B unit. In an exclusive interview, general manager Anil Okay talks about the reasons behind the rebranding, what makes it unique in the B2B sphere and the significance of 2023 for Adalvo’s strategy.

Unique industry partnerships and new regulatory flexibility in Latin America may help to improve access to medicines, even as COVID-19 wreaks havoc in the region’s largest pharmaceutical market. Can biopharma’s bespoke solutions to market access barriers coalesce into a strategy capable of overcoming political, economic and COVID-19 related risks?   

Last month a drug for the prevention of uterine haemorrhage became the first product to be approved under a novel scheme designed to speed up access to medicines in low and middle-income countries, particularly those in sub-Saharan Africa. 

Spearheading discussions with NICE, bluebird bio’s UK general manager Nicola Redfern has been central to efforts to introduce fresh reimbursement models within the health technology assessment process and commercial framework. Success could change the way cell and gene therapies are assessed and affect the outlook for many patients living with rare diseases.

Device financing totaled $1.4bn during the first quarter of 2020. Merger and acquisition activity reached $714.5m, with only two transactions hitting the six-figure mark. Financings by diagnostics/research players totaled $985m and just six companies were acquired, four of which together were valued at $11.6bn, most coming from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s $11.5bn buy of fellow public life sciences company Qiagen NV.

This month’s column covers deals announced in May 2020. Data provided by Biomedtracker. 

Another important step has been taken under the Healthy China initiative, with the implementation on June 1 of a basic law on access to health care. This provides additional tailwind for a health system that appeared to efficiently contain its coronavirus outbreak and is now making further structural improvements.