Drug developer stocks rebounded over July and August, with 23 companies on the BioWorld Drug Developers Index posting gains and only seven declining. The two-month upswing marks a reversal from the February-through-June period, when the index remained in the negative.

Biopharma dealmaking remained robust through August 2025, with total disclosed deal value reaching $185.28 billion for the first eight months of the year, the highest January-to-August total in BioWorld’s records, and up nearly 36% over the same period in 2024.

The Hong Kong biotech sector saw record growth this year, expanding 13%, fueled largely by investment in innovation ranging from CRISPR gene editing tools, cell therapies and artificial intelligence in drug discovery, speakers at the BIO Hong Kong conference said Sept. 10.

“The comment I hear a lot from scientists … is that science has no borders,” Arif Noorani, partner at Sidley Austin LLP, said while addressing the panel audience at Asia Bio 2025 in Singapore. “I agree, but the reality is, we do have a lot of borders.”

Countries in the Asia Pacific (APAC) region have an opportunity, or a time-limited “gap,” to become leaders on the global biotechnology stage, panelists at the Bio Asia 2025 conference said in Singapore Sept. 9.

Although 2024 showed signs of recovery, 2025 is once again reflecting an IPO slowdown, with global biopharma IPO proceeds in the first seven months of the year falling to their lowest level since 2016.

Positive phase I results in small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) from Ideaya Biosciences Inc. and partner Hengrui Pharmaceuticals Co. Ltd. with IDE-849, a potentially first-in-class antibody-drug conjugate targeting delta-like ligand 3 (DLL3) and topoisomerase 1, sharpened interest in the DLL3 mechanism, which gave Zai Lab Ltd. a phase Ia/Ib win this year in extensive-stage (ES) SCLC.