Ernst & Young LLP didn't quite declare the patient cured but saw signs of a strong med-tech recovery after a few years on life support in its annual Pulse of the MedTech Industry report. The global accounting giant particularly called out strength in the cardiovascular, diabetes, robotics and orthopedics segments.
Despite down-to-the-wire negotiations, the odds are that parts of the U.S. government will shut down at midnight Sept. 30, as Senate Democrats refused to support a seven-week, clean continuing resolution already passed by the House to keep the government funded while Congress hammers out fiscal 2026 spending bills.
The threat of tariffs on imports of branded drugs is about to be realized after U.S. President Donald Trump announced a 100% import duty will apply beginning Oct. 1. However, the flurry of recent announcements by pharma companies of investments in U.S. manufacturing plants may have paid off, with the president saying in his announcement on Truth Social that the 100% rate will be enforced “unless a company is building their manufacturing plant in America.”
The threat of tariffs on imports of branded drugs is about to be realized after U.S. President Donald Trump announced a 100% import duty will apply beginning Oct. 1. However, the flurry of recent announcements by pharma companies of investments in U.S. manufacturing plants may have paid off, with the president saying in his announcement on Truth Social that the 100% rate will be enforced “unless a company is building their manufacturing plant in America.”
The Trump administration has launched an investigation into the national security effects of imports of medical equipment, devices, consumables and equipment, laying the groundwork for a potential increase in tariffs targeting the industry. A separate investigation into robotics and industrial machinery began the same day. Med-tech stocks dropped significantly in response to the news as investors fear increased tariffs on the sector. In April, the administration initiated a similar review of the pharmaceutical industry and in August threatened 200% tariffs on that sector.
Celltrion Inc. announced plans to acquire from Eli Lilly and Co. a Branchburg, N.J.-based biologics cGMP facility for $330 million up front, with plans to invest up to a total of ₩1.4 trillion (US$1 billion) in plant acquisition and expansion.
The U.K.’s failure to join the dots from discovery research to patient access to innovative drugs was cited repeatedly by pharma leaders, who were called to an emergency hearing in parliament on Tuesday to explain decisions to pull out of promised capital investments.
Uncertainties brought on by tariffs have certainly dampened the optimism in the med tech sector seen at the beginning of the year, as it has slowed M&A and fundraising activity. However, companies developing differentiated products based on solid technology, supported by substantial clinical data, will attract financing and M&A activity will return, Luc Marengère, managing partner at TVM Capital Life Science, told BioWorld.
No matter what level of tariff the Trump administration ends up imposing on biopharmaceuticals across the world, drugs and their precursors originating in the EU will face no more than a 15% tariff when imported to the U.S., according to an Aug. 21 EU-U.S. joint statement regarding the trade framework agreement between the two trade partners.
Location, location, location. While location is as important in manufacturing as it is in buying a home, it could become even more so for drug companies when, and if, the global biopharma sector tariff U.S. President Donald Trump continues to tease becomes a reality. In the shadow of the impending tariff, the FDA is working on a draft framework, the two-phase FDA PreCheck, to make it faster and easier for biopharma companies to relocate their manufacturing to the U.S.
