Growth

Improvements in generating, purifying, and delivering RNA material, as well as addressing challenges with degradation by enzymes, have made the RNA class more attractive to drug developers.

With only weeks to go in 2022, the three major pharmas each had inked between 16 and 20 deals. Meanwhile, Pfizer has been less busy with 12 deals, but those include M&A totaling $18.2bn.

Immuno-oncology therapies have revolutionized the treatment of many cancers over the last decade. This period has also witnessed a dramatic growth in China’s domestic pharmaceutical industry, and significant changes in the interaction between this industry and international pharma. This coalescence has led to excitement about the role that Chinese IO could play on the global stage, tempered by regulatory set-backs and revised marketing timelines. 

Drug discovery services is one of the fastest growing areas of outsourcing because of pharma's increasing reliance on the companies operating within the field. This trend is causing increased interest from both pharma and PE-backed companies.

In Vivo's deal-making column is a survey of recent health care transactions listed by relevant industry segment – In Vitro Diagnostics, Medical Devices and Pharmaceuticals – and then categorized by type – acquisition, alliance, or financing. This month’s column covers deals announced in October 2022. Data provided by Biomedtracker.

Strong headwinds beset the medtech industry as 2022 draws to a close, including supply chain, fundraising and labor shortages. However, optimism prevailed among medtech industry leaders discussing EY’s annual Pulse of the Industry medical technology report and related topics at AdvaMed’s 2022 MedTech Conference.

In this episode of the In Vivo podcast, David Wild speaks with Petra Jantzer, senior managing director and global life sciences lead at Accenture, about the changing deals landscape. The discussion centers on the shifts in M&A strategies that Jantzer has been seeing among big pharmas and the need for other companies to adapt to a world in which technologies and processes become a key focus of growth.

During Q3, biopharma merger and acquisition value reached $15.4bn and drew in $37.6bn in potential deal value from alliances. Device company M&A values reached $550m, while in vitro diagnostic firms and research tools players completed M&A activity that totaled $1.9bn.

Verona Pharma’s Phase III ensifentrine, if approved, would be the first new dual-mechanism treatment class for COPD patients in decades. It could propel the UK-based biotech toward profitability, or into the arms of a larger partner.

Indian firms are getting their act together in areas like cell and gene therapy, with Dr Reddy’s aiming big and readying a facility alongside an alliance with a Chinese firm for a CAR-T therapy. The company is also doubling down in contract development and manufacturing, with an eye on opportunities in biologics.

Ripples from the COVID-19 pandemic can be felt across Asia Pacific as investment from foreign firms into the region dropped by 45% from 2019 to 2020, and continued its decline in 2021 to 34%.

The global pharmaceutical industry has had many innovative successes and now faces an equal amount of challenges to bring more medicines to patients around the world. The disparate parts of the healthcare system must work together to ensure patients have access to therapies.