Now that the votes are in, the midterm election gives the U.S. a House/Senate outcome that will likely maintain the political status quo. It is predicted that for the next two years at least, with the Democrats controlling the House of Representatives and the Republicans in control of the Senate, implementation of new policies will be a challenge in Washington. (See BioWorld, Nov. 8, 2018.)
The regenerative medicine sector that embraces gene and cell therapies continues to expand, particularly on the business and clinical development fronts. For example, a panel at the Neurosciences 2018 conference discussed just how rapidly the science is evolving and now beginning to take on harder-to-treat diseases, with gene therapies already in early stage development targeting amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Parkinson's disease and Batten disease.
Market corrections are always scary when they happen but, fortunately, they don't come around too often. The previous meltdown for biopharmaceutical equities was back in February 2016. This time around, the BioWorld Biopharmaceutical index experienced a dramatic drop of 10 percent in October, with the BioWorld Drug Developers index suffering an almost 19 percent swoon. A late market rally did help stop the bleeding but by then the damage had been done, leaving investors to lick their wounds and the sector to face an uphill battle to recover its losses before the close of the year.
Market corrections are always scary when they happen but, fortunately, they don't come around too often. The previous meltdown for biopharmaceutical equities was back in February 2016. This time around, the BioWorld Biopharmaceutical index experienced a dramatic drop of 10 percent in October, with the BioWorld Drug Developers index suffering an almost 19 percent swoon. A late market rally did help stop the bleeding but by then the damage had been done, leaving investors to lick their wounds and the sector to face an uphill battle to recover its losses before the close of the year.
Financial reports from biotech's blue chip companies are coming thick and fast and so far none of them, filed during the past couple of days, appear to have harmed their market valuations despite the prevailing general market turbulence. Boston-based Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc., for example, posted a significant 42 percent third-quarter jump in its total cystic fibrosis (CF) product revenues to $783 million, beating consensus by 2 percent. The company attributed the increase to a rapid uptake of its newest CF drug, Symdeko (tezacaftor/ivacaftor and ivacaftor), in the U.S., which recorded revenues of $255 million, up 37 percent over the previous quarter.
It was a productive third quarter for biopharmaceutical companies, which brought 21 new molecular entities (NMEs) across the FDA's goal line, the most approvals in any quarter since 2012. The approvals add to the 20 NMEs that have already received the agency's green light this year. The industry is now well-positioned to break its recent high watermark for new drug approvals established last year at 46, a total that currently ranks as the second highest annual total of all time, behind the 1996 total when 53 new medicines were approved.
The global biopharmaceutical sector generated $16 billion in the third quarter of the year, adding to the almost $38 billion it raised in the first half of the year. According to BioWorld data, the collective $54 billion the sector has brought in at the three quarter post is 4 percent more than the total it raised at this point last year. The sector is poised to post a record year for the amount of cash it hauled in and to top the $69 billion raised in 2015.
The global biopharmaceutical sector generated $16 billion in the third quarter of the year, adding to the almost $38 billion it raised in the first half of the year. According to BioWorld data, the collective $54 billion the sector has brought in at the three quarter post is 4 percent more than the total it raised at this point last year. The sector is poised to post a record year for the amount of cash it hauled in and to top the $69 billion raised in 2015.
In the third quarter, biotech investors dramatically dialed down their risk tolerance. As a result, share values of small and midsized drug developers dipped almost 6 percent in September and, as a result, the BioWorld Drug Developers index returned a flat third quarter. In contrast, blue chip biopharmas enjoyed an excellent quarter, with the BioWorld Biopharmaceutical index outperforming the general markets.
