Despite a sharp increase in mid-August, BioWorld’s Biopharmaceutical Index  ended that month up a mere 1.4% and rose only slightly in September to 1.5% as of the 26th. It has done significantly better than the Nasdaq Biotechnology Index and the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which are down 23.2% and 19.5%, respectively.

The amount of clinical news in 2022 continues to lag last year, partly due to a decline in COVID-19-related data. Through the last week of September, there have been a total of 2,495 phase I, II and III clinical entries, compared with 3,027 during the first three quarters of 2021. This represents a drop in activity of 17.6%.

While U.S. FDA approvals are down by 27% in 2022, the agency was busy throughout the month of September, clearing seven new molecular entities (NMEs), the most for any month this year.