Biopharma deal activity in the first month of the year saw the largest January raise thus far, with $28.63 billion in collective funds. While down slightly month over month, the value was comparable to December 2024’s $29.02 billion and November 2024’s $29.34 billion.

A 15% cap on indirect cost reimbursement that was announced by the U.S. NIH has been stalled by a court order for the time being. But researchers remain deeply concerned about the attempt, and about the new administration’s adversarial approach to research and universities.

Coming as no surprise, the U.S. Senate’s Feb. 13 confirmation of Robert Kennedy as the next secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) did nothing to ease the uncertainty hanging over the FDA and other HHS agencies.

The BioWorld Cancer Index (BCI) experienced a steep decline in 2024, closing the year down 17.32%. After peaking in late February with an 11.16% gain, the index steadily trended downward, with only brief recoveries that failed to push it back into positive territory. This marked a sharp contrast to 2023, when the BCI soared 76.26% by year-end. In comparison, 2022 saw the index drop by 41.98%, while 2021 closed with a decline of 36.34%.

From Feb. 10, the U.S. NIH is to cut the amount of its grants that go to indirect costs, in a move it says will save $4 billion per annum, but which scientists say will hit breakthrough biomedical research. The NIH announced the cut on Friday, Feb. 7, saying there would be a flat rate of 15% for indirect costs, such as running laboratories, buying and maintaining equipment, data processing and storage, across all of its grants. That compares to an average rate historically of between 27% and 28%, the NIH said.