COVID-19 kept its grip on the world in 2021 as one new variant after another created new waves of infection, forcing regulatory officials to face ongoing political and logistical pressures in dealing with drug and vaccine approvals, mergers and acquisitions, manufacturing issues and demands for pricing reforms.

It was a busy year for biopharma deals, but as 2021 nears its end, activity is lagging 2020. BioWorld recorded 1,844 deals valued at $182 billion in 2021 vs. 2,067 deals valued at $198.2 billion for 2020. That puts 2021 behind last year on the volume of deals by more than 10% and on value by about 8%, but there are still three weeks to go.

Financings ramped up dramatically in 2015 with $68 billion collected, but the amount does not touch biopharma investment in the last two years. The industry has raised $113 billion in 2021, down from the $134.5 billion full year 2020 total, but more than every five-year combination total from the years 2000 to 2014. It is an increase of 65% over 2015, 200% over 2016, 118% over 2017, 68% over 2018 and 95% over 2019. Both IPOs ($23.7 billion) and venture capital rounds ($37.8 billion) have hit all-time records this year. But will the onslaught of money continue for the industry?

Total raised in public, private and other financings of biopharma companies, comparing 2021 vs. 2020 vs. 2019.

Year-to-date money raised in public, private and other financings of biopharma companies.

These graphs compare the performance of the biotech stocks for all of 2021 using the BioWorld Stock Indicator and the Nasdaq Biotech Index.