HONG KONG – Uni-Bio Science Group Ltd. and Dotbio Pte. Ltd. formed a partnership to develop therapeutics for patients with retinal diseases, such as age-related macular degeneration, diabetic macular edema, retinal vein occlusion and myopic choroidal neovascularization.
As a virtual 39th J.P. Morgan Annual Healthcare Conference begins, typically one of the biggest events of the year, biopharma dealmaking barreled ahead with five new deals Jan. 11 that could eventually hit $1.04 billion in total.
With record financings and now record deals in 2020, as well as a respectable value accumulated through completed mergers and acquisitions, the biopharma industry has managed to circumvent a crippling economic slowdown during the COVID-19 pandemic.
HONG KONG – Peptidream Inc. inked a research collaboration with Amolyt Pharma SAS to test and optimize Peptidream’s growth hormone receptor antagonist (GHRA) peptides, with the aim of selecting a candidate to develop as a potential treatment for acromegaly.
If there are three takeaways from this year’s dealmaking efforts, they appear to be record-setting partnerships, lackluster M&As, and massive amounts of research funding via the U.S. government.
The combined total of biopharma nonprofit collaborations and grants in 2020 has reached about $24 billion, more than three times the amount recorded for 2019.
Still not there yet, but close. Biopharma projected deal values are currently at $159.4 billion, just shy of the 2019 record of $160.3 billion. With about six weeks left in the year, it is highly likely that 2020 will come out on top.
Just as financings are hitting record levels, biopharma deals should finish out 2020 on top, based on solid partnerships signed in the first three quarters of the year. While mergers and acquisitions have slowed this year, particularly in the third quarter, several big-money M&As slated to close in the fourth quarter could move the needle, putting this year within the top three highest values.
The number of biopharma deals and mergers and acquisitions completed so far within the past three months are significantly down from each of the first two quarters of 2020. But despite slumping activity and uninspiring M&A values, the projected values of licensings, collaborations and joint ventures, at about $45.4 billion, has placed the nearly complete third quarter in line with the rest of the year. That is mainly due to July and August having two of the largest deals for the year. Together, they make up 27% of the money disclosed in the third quarter, although there is still a week and a half left in September.
As biopharma deal values continue to rise above recent years, a growing percentage of the funds are coming through partnerships with companies headquartered in Asia and nearby countries. The $48.5 billion reported so far in 2020, for deals in which at least one party is based in either Asia, Australia or New Zealand, represents 37% of the global deal value.
