A NASDAQ listing has been the pinnacle for non-US biotech companies because it brings access to more specialist investors and a larger capital base. But the appetite for – and aftermarket performance of – this biotech tourism is cycle-dependent.

Public Company Edition: The last biopharma IPO in the US was on 17 February and none have been scheduled, so far, for March. Also, another SPAC merger is called off, Travere sells $275m worth of notes and Xeris secures $150m in new debt, while Ovid, Passage Bio and others are cutting jobs. 

The subdued number of acquisitions of biotech by big pharma has more than one cause. The structural improvement of the process of drug discovery and development at big pharma is the main one.

The German biotech had already hinted at possibly expanding through M&A, and Constellation was viewed as an attractive acquisition target.