The BioWorld Biopharmaceutical Index finished 2025 up 24.07%, building slightly on its 23% gain recorded at the end of November. While the increase trailed the Nasdaq Biotechnology Index’s 32.4% rise for the year, it outperformed the broader Dow Jones Industrial Average, which advanced 12.97%.

At Biocom’s Global Partnering and Investor Conference, venture capitalists (VCs) on multiple panels offered their thoughts on the state of venture investing and offered advice for startups interested in securing funding. Sentiment for early stage investment was somewhat mixed, but trended negative as VCs acknowledged that it’s a tough environment in which to raise capital.

This year, European med-tech companies continue to navigate an uncertain macro environment created by the reciprocal tariffs on goods entering the U.S., their primary market. Some companies though are adapting supply chains and manufacturing strategies, while others are looking to diversify into other regions. Their technologies after all, address clinical needs, so the sector continues to innovate, conduct trials, present data, raise funds, and deliver products which improve patients’ lives.

While the annual State of the Union address has morphed over the years from a summation of the state of the U.S. government and the president’s legislative agenda into political theater on both sides of the aisle, President Donald Trump did include some recommendations to Congress in his Feb. 24 speech. Among those recommendations was a request for Congress to codify his most-favored-nation pricing policy for prescription drugs.

U.S. FDA approvals began 2026 at a slower pace than usual, with eight approvals recorded in January.

The ramifications of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision Feb. 20 that shot down President Donald Trump’s reciprocal tariffs issued under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act are rippling across the world. And Trump’s immediate response to that ruling – a proclamation imposing a temporary 10% import duty on most goods brought into the country beginning Feb. 24 – isn’t helping.

U.S. FDA approvals began 2026 at a slower pace than usual, with eight approvals recorded in January. The total falls below the 2025 monthly average of about 19 approvals and trails every month last year, which ranged from 12 to 27 approvals.