This year in the U.S., according to the National Cancer Institute (NCI), an estimated 1.65 million new cases of cancer will be diagnosed and almost 600,000 people will succumb to the disease. In addition, the economic burden for cancer care in the U.S. runs on the order of $130 billion – a staggering amount that continues to rise annually.
Public and private biotech companies are still having no difficulty raising cash despite the horrendous performance of the capital markets during the third quarter. The sector collectively raised a whopping $34 billion, an amount swollen by three major debt offerings.
Public and private biotech companies are still having no difficulty raising cash despite the horrendous performance of the capital markets during the third quarter. The sector collectively raised a whopping $34 billion, an amount swollen by three major debt offerings.
Warning signs that the biotech sector's marathon five-year positive run had finally hit the fatigue wall were there for all to see at the end of the second quarter. Most thought that the industry was ripe for a major correction and that it had finally arrived when investors headed for the hills on news that China's economy appeared to be in rougher shape than originally forecast sending the markets south.
The last couple of months have seen the capital markets take a beating and biotech has not been immune from a 10 percent market correction and ongoing unresolved macro-economic issues that have kept Wall Street wary and on edge.
Over the past few years, there has been a significant change in the model for driving biotech innovation. The complexities and rising costs of developing new medicines and health products have necessitated a collaborative and risk-sharing approach to R&D. As a result, a more intricate web of players is now involved in the game.
The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) pharmaceutical market has been estimated to exhibit more than 10 percent growth during the next five years and be worth $45 billion, mainly driven by rapidly changing population dynamics, including an evolving middle class that is accelerating the demand for new medicines.
The brutal capital markets in August didn't deter biotech companies taking off from the IPO runway, with five successfully completing their offerings in the month, raising almost $400 million among them. The financings are a reflection of strong IPO activity in general during the second quarter.
During the biotech industry's extended market bull run there has been a notable resurgence of interest in advanced gene and cell therapies. In fact, the Washington-based Alliance for Regenerative Medicine (ARM), an international advocacy organization representing the regenerative medicine and advanced therapies community, hailed 2014 as a breakout year for the sector during its annual state-of-the-industry briefing presented at the Biotech Showcase meeting in January.
Although overall the second quarter financial report filings of biotech companies received a modest passing grade, investors were lukewarm to those less than stellar performances. That general angst was one of the contributing factors for the pullback in biotech during August.
