The biopharma industry is still adjusting from the heady days of the COVID-19 pandemic, and nowhere is this so apparent as in financings. The value of financings has returned to what could be called a new normal, down from the surge of capital seen in 2020-2021. However, there are signs that the trend is heading back upward at a steady pace.

A catastrophe was averted over the weekend of March 11-12, 2023, when the U.K. government and the Bank of England orchestrated the rescue of the U.K. arm of Silicon Valley Bank, after its U.S. parent was shut down by the receiver. While that saved dozens of small biotechs with large deposits at the bank, it signified the fragile economic environment during the year, compounded by wider geopolitical frictions, with a market described by Chris Hollowood, CEO of Syncona Investment Management, as “the worst in my career.”