It’s been a year of two halves in Europe, with early optimism that the biotech sector had recovered from the post-pandemic funding drought being crushed by an investment slowdown from June onward.

If the 2025 U.S. life sciences regulatory scene were to be summed up in one word, it would have to be uncertainty. Two words might be more definitive – chaotic uncertainty.

Asia, led by China, is no longer just following global pharma trends. It is helping to shape them, and for investors, innovators and policymakers, the question is no longer whether to engage with Asia, but how to engage wisely in this new, more complex world.

U.S. policy, China’s strategic rise, blockbuster deals and AI dominated South Korea’s biotechnology industry this year, with U.S. tariffs and the Biosecure Act’s hitch onto 2026 legislation serving as major topics of speculation.

BioWorld logged 170 clinical trial updates across phases I through III in November 2025, a decline from 252 updates in October and 230 in September, but higher than the 95 reported in August.

Speed and innovation from Asia Pacific’s (APAC) biotechnology sector had big pharma scouring the region for the next oncology heir to Keytruda (pembrolizumab), Merck & Co. Inc.’s reigning blockbuster cancer drug.