About one in four drugs made it from being a new molecular entity (NME) in 2013 to approval in five years, according to a report on the pipeline progress for eight large biotechs analyzed by SVB Leerink analyst Geoffrey Porges. Externally acquired NMEs had a higher conversion rate, with 32% making it to market, compared to 21% of internally developed drugs.

Any thoughts that the fortunes of leading public biopharmaceutical companies will change anytime soon following a subpar first-quarter performance have been quickly dispelled as drug pricing headwinds continue to keep investors sitting on their hands. These companies repeated their March downturn with another 6% drop in April, despite the fact that the general markets continued their upward trend.