Approvals from the U.S. FDA are up more than 16% from last year, with 113 drugs approved in the first eight months of 2023. New approvals include two different treatments for relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma, two treatments for ultra-rare diseases and a biosimilar to Biogen Inc.’s Tysabri. In August the FDA greenlighted 13 drugs, approving three NDAs, six BLAs, two supplemental NDAs and two supplemental BLAs.

Biopharma deal values through August are down 13.05% year-over-year, while the number of deals has fallen by 18.51% compared to 2022. M&A value, meanwhile, is down just 3.6% from last year. Through August, 2023 saw 885 biopharma deals worth $111.87 billion, compared to 1,086 deals totaling $128.66 billion in the same period in 2022. The first eight months of 2021 saw 1,386 deals worth $121.22 billion, 1,381 deals valued at $129.96 billion in 2020 and 1,051 deals worth $111.93 billion in 2019.

In August 2023, med-tech firms raised a total of $1.88 billion through 27 transactions, an increase of 94.12% from the $971 million raised in July. Value is down 42.83%, however, from the $3.3 billion raised in August 2022. The volume of med-tech financings is tracking at an average of 41 per month in 2023, down from an average of 43 per month in 2022, 59 per month through 2021 and 60 per month in 2020.