India’s Alkem has delivered a strong quarter with a boost in its domestic business on the back of “strong volume-led growth in the acute therapies and faster than market growth in chronic therapies.” However, the company saw a slight YoY decline in the US.

ARM counts $14.1bn in fundraising in the first half of 2021, up 35% from mid-year 2020. Also, Chinese mRNA players Abogen raises a $700m series C venture capital round, Pfizer prices a $1bn sustainability bond and while IPOs slow in the US, China and South Korea see new first-time offerings.

The pandemic created a tough environment for sales of both newly launched products and growing products, especially for small-to-medium enterprises. Scrip reviewed the second quarter earnings calls for several SMEs: some are continuing to feel pressure, and some are starting to recover. [See Part 1 for companies reporting a turnaround.]

The generics industry struggled with the prior-year comparison as it saw an expected decline in revenues in the first quarter of 2021, driven by the global impact of the COVID-19 crisis. As a result, the performance of most companies fell short of the numbers reported in Q1 2020. However, a few managed to contradict the trend by reporting growth, either based on the launch of COVID-related drugs or performance in specific geographies.