The biopharma industry has raised nearly $62 billion in the first six months of the year, bringing it very close to the $68 billion full-year record of 2015. Well over half of that money has been raised in just the last two months, with May collecting $23.4 billion and June pulling in $16.28 billion.
A number of clinical trials hit primary endpoints in May, despite the COVID-19 pandemic, which still accounted for about 30% of the phase I through phase III news flow during the month.
Money raised through biopharma financings so far in 2020 is double the amount raised within the same timeframe of 2019, partly due to two large financings completed in May by Sanofi SA, which is working on candidates to treat or prevent COVID-19, the disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
Few would dispute that the best way to find innovative solutions to the COVID-19 pandemic is through industry, academia and government working together. BioWorld data indicate that more than 45% of the biopharma deals with nonprofit entities (bio/nonprofit) in 2020 are indeed focused on fighting the globally-disruptive SARS-CoV-2 virus.
While a significant number of clinical trial delays occurred during the month of April, it was business as usual from a regulatory standpoint for companies with late-stage therapies ready for the market and for those targeting underserved patient populations.
