The performances of the leading medtechs in the first year of the COVID pandemic were impossible to compare and certainly unrepresentative of normal business cycles and competitive activity. Elective care was largely put on hold and emergency needs boosted exceptional demand for certain product types. More than anything else, 2020 tested management's planning skills.

Private Company Edition: Amylyx will use its new cash to run a Phase III trial and submit applications seeking EU and Canadian approvals of AMX0035, but US filing plans based on prior Phase II/III data are less clear. Also, three VC firms raised new funds targeting biopharma and other investments.

Also, deals involving AbCellera/Angios, AstraZeneca/Alchemab, Kowa/Esteve, OSE/Veloxis, Tris/Park, Core One/Akome and Vertex/Obsidian.

Emerging Company Profile: Aelix Therapeutics has constructed a potential therapeutic HIV vaccine to refocus the immune system onto vulnerable parts of the virus, and may allow patients to control viral replication without antiretroviral therapy.