Biopharmaceutical companies developing cancer therapies had a productive year with about 38% of the record 53 new medicines approved by the FDA targeting oncology indications. This was one of the contributing factors for the 21% growth in the valuation of the price weighted BioWorld Cancer index in 2020.

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The biotechnology sector took a back seat in January as investors focused on the volatility caused by a retail trading frenzy on Wall Street.

As solid efficacy data are reported for at least four more front-runner vaccines, and while biopharma companies join arms with combination antibodies, SARS-CoV-2 variants continue to spread and countries are racing to vaccinate. None of the research is slowing, and governments are determined to make sure another COVID-19 pandemic never again takes the world by surprise. Global deaths are up to 2.2 million, with 102.9 million confirmed cases, according to the World Health Organization. At least 865 therapeutics and vaccines to fight the virus have entered development in the last year.

With the FDA approval of Keytruda (pembrolizumab, Merck & Co. Inc.) in the front-line setting of metastatic or unresectable, recurrent head and neck cancer squamous cell carcinoma, the space has become a race to develop drugs using a variety of mechanisms of action to improve the efficacy of the anti-PD-1 monoclonal antibody.