Growth

As the value of medtech deals increases, investors are increasingly looking for earlier opportunities. COVID-19 has added both impetus and new opportunity, with innovators and investors vying to build a position in digital health technologies, such as remote monitoring and digital therapeutics.

Clinical-stage biopharma Starton Therapeutics is developing continuous delivery systems and transdermal technologies to improve the safety and efficacy of existing cancer medications, and eschewing VC firms in favor of retail investors. Chair and CEO Pedro Lichtinger recently appeared on Unicorn Hunters, an online reality TV show, to pitch the company to celebrity judges, and the public at large.

Founded in 1885 by Albert Boehringer and now comprised of 146 affiliated companies worldwide and a workforce of roughly 50,000 people, Boehringer Ingelheim has stood the test of time.

Focus On Switzerland – Part 4: The fragile nature of start-ups belies their value in medtech innovation, and they do not need unnecessary regulatory complications.

One hundred billion dollars. That is the combined revenue of the top 10 pharmaceuticals in 2020, marking the first year in which this threshold has been crossed. AbbVie’s Humira easily retained its lead in 2020 with $20.3bn in sales. Gilead Sciences’ HIV triple combo Biktarvy was the fastest climber, entering the top 10 in eighth place after 53.2% growth in a year, while Avastin, Enbrel and Rituxan fell out of the list.

Venture capitalists and industry executives discussed strategies for placing smart bets on emerging gene therapy companies during a recent virtual panel.

Deal-making and financing activities are on the rise for liquid biopsy diagnostic products in 2021 despite questions remaining around whether the technology can unseat standard-of-care biomarker and imaging tests.

In conjunction with In Vivo’s Rising Leaders series, a panel of senior executives representing a wide spectrum of the life sciences industry – from large biopharmaceuticals to small biotech and cancer diagnostics – was convened to discuss what it takes to successfully lead during times of uncertainty and upheaval. Insights on communication strategies, navigating team integrations, supporting diversity and inclusion, and getting the most from multi-generational employees rested on a common theme: valuing people and anticipating workforce needs.        

Expanding partnerships with CROs, the COVID-19 lockdown, an eager FDA and an industry desire for faster and more diverse clinical trial recruiting helped Science 37, a decentralized clinical trial company, nail down plans to go public. Science 37 CEO David Coman spoke with In Vivo about the reasons for going public via SPAC, and why decentralization is a “prerequisite to operating a clinical trial today.” 

Following early investor conversations, Laevoroc Oncology has split its leading products into three independent subsidiaries to off-set risk and provide greater choice to future partners. While there is no underlying platform technology, CEO Thomas Mehrling believes the subsidiaries all include potential “game-changing medicines.”

With nearly 3,500 therapies in development globally, and almost $480m in start-up financing in Q1 of 2021 alone, the cell, gene and RNA therapy area is seeing a sharp rise in development and attention. 

Novo Nordisk’s semaglutide, a GLP-1 agonist marketed in an injected formulation as Ozempic, and an oral tablet form as Rybelsus, is a success story with the potential for an epic third act. First approved as a treatment for type 2 diabetes, semaglutide is under FDA review as a treatment for obesity, with additional clinical programs in NASH and Alzheimer’s disease.