This year there has been a significant resurgence of interest in public biopharmaceutical companies that are focused on developing therapies to treat neurological diseases. As a result, the sector got out of the gate quickly and, by the end of June, the BioWorld Neurological Diseases index, a price-weighted index of representative companies operating in that therapeutic area, had climbed in value to over 26%, well ahead of the performance of the general markets and blue-chip biopharma companies.

This year there has been a significant resurgence of interest in public biopharmaceutical companies that are focused on developing therapies to treat neurological diseases. As a result, the sector got out of the gate quickly and, by the end of June, the BioWorld Neurological Diseases index, a price-weighted index of representative companies operating in that therapeutic area, had climbed in value to over 26%, well ahead of the performance of the general markets and blue-chip biopharma companies.

The recent FDA approval of Ibsrela (tenapanor), Ardelyx Inc.’s treatment for irritable bowel syndrome with constipation in adults, brings, according to the agency’s data, the number of new molecular entities (NMEs) to 27 this year. With just three months remaining, it appears that the biopharma sector is on pace with the five-year average of about 43 NMEs approved annually. 

Although various government incentives have been introduced in the past few years to encourage and support more research and development designed to accelerate the discovery of new antibiotics, they, in themselves, have not been enough.

Although various government incentives have been introduced in the past few years to encourage and support more research and development designed to accelerate the discovery of new antibiotics, they, in themselves, have not been enough.

The pleasant memories of summer vacations are sure to fade quickly for biotech investors who are returning, post-Labor Day, to the harsh realities of markets that are not ready to embrace the sector anytime soon. As we head to the end of the third quarter, there is no momentum being built by blue-chip biopharmaceutical companies, as their share values languished once again last month. 

Although investor sentiment continues to remain low and unlikely to change for the remainder of the year, it seems that fact has fallen on deaf ears of those companies looking to graduate to the public ranks. Already in the first few days of September, five biopharma companies have added themselves to the IPO runway, bringing the number of pending U.S. offerings to 12, according to BioWorld.

Although investor sentiment continues to remain low and unlikely to change for the remainder of the year, it seems that fact has fallen on deaf ears of those companies looking to graduate to the public ranks. Already in the first few days of September, five biopharma companies have added themselves to the IPO runway, bringing the number of pending U.S. offerings to 12, according to BioWorld.

The turbulent financial markets that have seen the Dow Jones Industrial Average drop over 2% in August appear to have caught up with innovative mid-cap public companies engaged in exciting cancer research such as immuno-oncology. Up until now they have enjoyed strong investor support, but for the first time this year investors appear to be moving out of this sector and, as a result, share values have dipped dramatically. As a result, the BioWorld Cancer Index is trading down 11% in August. 

Quarterly financial reporting for public companies is costly and ties up senior management and board members for several days before each quarterly earnings report is released and the 10-Q is filed. Could this process be made more efficient and less frequent, such as a semi-annual filing like many reporting companies based in Europe have implemented? That was one of the questions considered by a roundtable hosted by the SEC's Division of Corporation Finance where key stakeholders delved into the impact of short-termism on U.S. capital markets and whether the SEC's current reporting system needs to be changed to ease administrative and other burdens on reporting companies.