A year after COVID-19 first turned the world upside down, executives across the biopharma industry consider what 2021 holds in store. The impact of the pandemic will have profound and long-lasting implications for a sector that has been at the heart of responding to the global health challenge.

Executives expect the changes wrought by necessity in the face of a global pandemic to have lasting effects, both positive and negative, on the biopharma sector. Here they share their predictions for the coming year.

Private Company Edition: While venture capital invested in the industry dropped in 2019, the number of deals rose as investors funded more early-stage VC rounds. Money continues flowing to large deals as well, including $105m for ALX Oncology and $98m for CANbridge.

Private Company Edition: VC deals are surging this year for cell and gene therapy firms, according to ARM’s third quarter report. Also, Vivo Capital and the CF Foundation plan to invest nearly $2bn in health care and life science opportunities, and Akeso completes $150m series D.