Annual biopharma financing values have fluctuated significantly over the past seven years, peaking during the pandemic-era surge in 2020 and 2021 before retreating in 2022. After rebounding to more than $102 billion in 2024, total financings declined in 2025 to $81.21 billion. Monthly totals in the year ranged from just under $3 billion (February and April) to more than $13.68 billion in October. December financings totaled $9.08 billion, comparable to November’s $10 billion collective raise.
After a volatile but ultimately strong year for biopharma stocks, 2025 delivered a mixed picture marked by sharp workforce reductions alongside resilient capital markets and high-value dealmaking.
Asia, led by China, is no longer just following global pharma trends. It is helping to shape them, and for investors, innovators and policymakers, the question is no longer whether to engage with Asia, but how to engage wisely in this new, more complex world.
BioWorld logged 170 clinical trial updates across phases I through III in November 2025, a decline from 252 updates in October and 230 in September, but higher than the 95 reported in August.
U.S. policy, China’s strategic rise, blockbuster deals and AI dominated South Korea’s biotechnology industry this year, with U.S. tariffs and the Biosecure Act’s hitch onto 2026 legislation serving as major topics of speculation.
Speed and innovation from Asia Pacific’s (APAC) biotechnology sector had big pharma scouring the region for the next oncology heir to Keytruda (pembrolizumab), Merck & Co. Inc.’s reigning blockbuster cancer drug.
China’s clinical trial volume has surged to nearly U.S. scale and now tops Europe, sitting at about 80% of U.S. levels and roughly 10% above the EU in 2024.
Seventy-three pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device companies from mainland China filed for IPOs in Hong Kong this year, a review by BioWorld found. In the second half of 2025, 43 new securities reports were filed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, increasing from the 30 applications in the first half.
Biopharma dealmaking activity remained strong in October, with total deal value reaching $31.86 billion, a 17% increase from $27.15 billion in September and ranking as the second-highest month in 2025 after June’s $35.43 billion.
ABL Bio Inc. inked a license and research agreement with Eli Lilly and Co. worth up to $2.6 billion to develop multiple therapeutics using the Grabody-B platform. Under the terms announced Nov. 12, ABL will receive a $40 million up-front payment and up to $2.56 billion in development, regulatory and commercialization milestones, plus tiered royalties on net sales.
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