Although FDA approvals in 2020 are falling just shy of records, the amount of regulatory news this year is more than twice the amount seen only four years ago and a 41% increase over that reported in 2019. The COVID-19 pandemic accounts for roughly 14% of the total, but regardless, by all accounts, 2020 has been an excessively busy year for both the biopharma industry and regulatory agencies.

A third-quarter progress report from the international advocacy group Alliance for Regenerative Medicine (ARM) has determined that the regenerative medicine and advanced therapy (RMAT) sector established a highwater mark of $15.9 billion in global financings, breaking the previous annual record of $13.5 billion that was set in 2018.

Partnerships are reshaping the pharmaceutical industry across Asia, said speakers during day two of the Phar-East 2020 virtual conference.

Nothing much has changed since last month. This year is still, by far, the best year for financings in biopharma history, although the gap between 2020 and the next highest year has widened even more.

As the year draws to a close, there is no doubt that investors have been keeping a close watch on emerging companies developing cancer therapies as well as those with new vaccines and treatments aimed at defeating COVID-19.

With a $39 billion offer in hand, Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc. is the target of what could be the third largest takeover to date of a pure play biotech company. At a 45% premium, the proposed transaction, which is expected to close in the third quarter of 2021, is largely applauded by analysts who point to three years of languishing stock prices despite the promise of the Boston-based company’s C5 complement franchise and a sturdy pipeline.