Biopharma stocks saw a resurgence in 2023, with the BioWorld Stock Index finishing the year with a gain of 33.59%, in contrast to the 32.75% decline in 2022. An analysis of 516 stocks from the index showed that 193 companies (37%) concluded the year on a positive note, while shares of 322 companies (62%) experienced a downturn. Anebulo Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:ANEB), a biopharma focused on substance use disorders, saw its stock end 2023 at the same price as its 2022 closing. Meanwhile, the BioWorld Biopharmaceutical Index ended November up 4.37%.

The U.S. FDA approved 21 drugs in December, bringing the total for the year to 191, a 26% increase to the 151 U.S. approvals in 2022. New molecular entities (NMEs) fell from six in November to three in December, bringing the annual number of NMEs approved to 55.

December med-tech deals totaled $220 million, down 50.25% from $442.2 million raised in November. However, for the full year 2023, med-tech deal value reached $10.63 billion, the top year in BioWorld’s records going back to 2018, and up 33.1% from 2022’s $7.99 billion.

The landscape of biopharma deals and M&As has seen a transformative shift, with a year-over-year drop in transaction numbers while value has increased. Overall, biopharma deals saw an uptick in value of nearly 6%, and biopharma M&As concurrently soared 80% higher in value than the previous year.

In December, biopharma deals reached $23.56 billion, the second-highest monthly total for the year. This reflects an uptick of 25.04% compared to November’s $18.84 billion in deal value. The full year 2023’s deal value of $217.69 billion marked the highest level ever recorded by BioWorld. This was an increase of 5.58% from $206.18 billion recorded in 2022 and surpassed the previous peak, 2021’s $213.57 billion.

Biopharma firms collectively raised $70.97 billion in 2023, a welcome upturn of 17% from the $60.81 billion raised in 2022. Although falling short of the $118.29 billion raised in 2021 and $134.53 billion raised in 2020, by 40% and 47%, respectively, 2023 stands firmly in the third-highest place in BioWorld’s records going back to 2011.

The biopharma industry concluded 2023 on a positive note regarding financings, with an increase of 17% in value over last year. A total of $70.97 billion was raised from financings in 2023, up from $60.81 billion raised in 2022. Value is down, however, from $118.29 billion in 2021 and $134.53 billion in 2020, but is higher than all previous years tracked by BioWorld from 2011-2019. In December, $4.18 billion was raised through 928 transactions in December, down 27% from the $5.74 billion tracked by BioWorld in November.

Clinical trial updates saw a 5.82% increase for the period of January to November 2023 compared to the same period last year. In November, BioWorld reported on 354 phase I-III trial updates. Although marking a decline from the 416 reported in October, the number of updates still surpasses the previous three months.

Echoing trends seen last year, the med-tech industry concluded 2023 with a continued surge in deal value juxtaposed against a more substantial decline in M&A value. Deal value for the year, including licensings, collaborations and joint ventures, reached $10.63 billion from 1,656 deals, the highest annual value in BioWorld’s records.