The U.S. FDA approved 16 drugs in February, up from 12 in January but still falling short of the 2024 monthly average of 19 approvals. Just two of those were new molecular entities (NMEs), continuing a slower pace compared to the year’s average of slightly more than four NMEs per month.

Biopharma deal activity climbed in early 2025, reaching $37.38 billion in the first two months, up from $35.66 billion a year ago. February saw $8.76 billion in deals, down 69% from January’s $28.63 billion, which included 11 transactions valued at $1 billion or more. Early 2025 saw the second-highest biopharma deal total on record, trailing only the $42.19 billion logged in the first two months of 2022.

Biopharma deal activity climbed in early 2025, reaching $37.38 billion in the first two months, up from $35.66 billion a year ago. February saw $8.76 billion in deals, down 69% from January’s $28.63 billion, which included 11 transactions valued at $1 billion or more. Early 2025 saw the second-highest biopharma deal total on record, trailing only the $42.19 billion logged in the first two months of 2022.

Med-tech M&A activity reached $10.35 billion in the first two months of 2025, with $4.81 billion in deals recorded in January and increasing to $5.55 billion in February. While total M&A value remained strong, the number of M&As dropped month-over-month, falling from 40 transactions in January to 19 in February, but still tracking with the 2024 average of nearly 30 per month.

While the U.S. has historically led the global pharmaceutical industry by pursuing both continual innovation and high quality, those strengths could become areas of weakness in times of political uncertainty, according to PA Consulting expert Andy Prinz.

Insilico Medicine founder and CEO Alex Zhavoronkov told BioWorld that he tries to spend as much time as possible in China, because that's where the artificial intelligence (AI) drug development company conducts synthesis and tests for early stage discovery. “And nowadays, not a day goes by without somebody launching an AI drug discovery company,” he said, noting that Chinese AI company Deepseek could be a huge disrupter.