Deals show large investors’ appetite for early-stage biotech, but can VC and PE rub along?

Over 100 biopharma companies piled onto public markets in 2021, raising a combined $21bn. A sharp cool off has left many trading well below their listing price. What does it mean for biotech financing in 2022?

When Novo Nordisk’s anti-obesity medicine Wegovy launched in June 2021, patients and physicians could not get enough. As COVID-19 underscored the risks of obesity, along came the most effective drug yet – on a par with surgery, in terms of weight loss achieved. Pharma’s interest in this disease has reawakened, and Wegovy may be just the first of a new generation of more powerful anti-obesity medicines.

The pandemic has brightened pharma’s image, but drug pricing is still high on the political agenda. For US and European politicians, the health crisis has heightened the tension between supporting innovation and controlling rising costs.

The COVID-19 pandemic has triggered extraordinary levels of collaboration. But competition remains, and many newly created coalitions have yet to be stress tested.

COVID-19 has triggered a dramatic shift toward virtual consultations and telemedicine, encouraged by more relaxed regulations and payer support.