While second quarter financings pale in comparison to the same timeframe last year, a stellar first quarter more than makes up for the gap, and 2021 has officially raised nearly 10% more than the first half of biopharma’s – and perhaps the world’s – most unforgettable year.
Biopharma deal-making activity continues to keep the same pace as 2020, but the value of completed mergers and acquisitions is still painfully languishing in comparison with other recent years. While pandemic partnerships appear to be falling, oncology and regenerative medicine are driving the high-money deals, as are an increasing number of billion-dollar pacts. Meanwhile preclinical efforts account for about 23% of this year’s total value, and the amounts of up-front payments, particularly for clinical-stage products, are rising.
In June, Morphosys AG acquired Constellation Pharmaceuticals Inc. in a deal worth $1.7 billion in which the German biotech monetizes a royalty from a big-selling antibody, spending the lump sum on research into small-molecule BET inhibitors. It’s a bold move and one that perhaps demonstrates a renewed interest in small-molecule drugs after a period when antibody-based molecules have been the dominant force in the market for branded drugs.
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