Biopharma deals in January reached $26.97 billion, marking the sixth-highest month in BioWorld’s records going back to 2016. It is an increase of nearly 25% from the $21.64 billion in deals in January 2023 and also is up from December. Value the first month of the year is more than 2023’s average monthly value of $18.14 billion, and likewise more than the average monthly value of any previous year.

The new year kicked off with med-tech deal value in January totaling $107.75 million. By the numbers, January’s 183 deals surpassed the 2023 monthly average of approximately 142 deals per month.

The biopharma industry started 2024 on the upswing, with all four categories of financings tracked by BioWorld up in value compared to last January, and also up from December. In comparison to January 2023, IPO value soared 262%, follow-ons surged by 247%, public/other offerings saw a 381% rise, and private financings experienced a 21% bump.

The BioWorld Cancer Index (BCI) had a stellar performance in 2023, finishing the year with an increase of 76.26%. The rise is a notable spike from the end of the third quarter, when it was up 22.96%. BCI’s performance surpassed both the Nasdaq Biotechnology Index and the Dow Jones Industrial Average, and stands in contrast to 2022, when the BCI concluded the year with a decline of 41.98%, and 2021, when the index saw a decrease of 36.34% over the year.

In the first month of 2024, med-tech financings passed the $1 billion mark once more, raising a total of $1.06 billion through 46 transactions recorded by BioWorld. It was the fourth consecutive month where med-tech financings exceeded the $1 billion threshold, just slightly down from the $1.07 billion raised in December.

The biopharma industry started 2024 on the upswing, with all four categories of financings tracked by BioWorld up in value compared to last January, and also up from December. In comparison to January 2023, IPO value soared 262%, follow-ons surged by 247%, public/other offerings saw a 381% rise, and private financings experienced a 21% bump.

In 2023, the BioWorld Drug Developers Index (BDDI) concluded the year down 11.35%. Although its performance trailed behind the Nasdaq Biotechnology Index (up 3.74%) and the Dow Jones Industrial Average (up 13.7%), BDDI nonetheless made a recovery from the end of October when it was down 31.4%. Notably, the top two performers on BDDI in 2023 had stock rises attributed to approvals in rare disorders. In 2022, the index concluded the year down 20.13%, and in 2021 BDDI was up 7.06% at year-end.

For full year 2023, clinical trial updates saw a 5.23% increase compared to the corresponding period last year. In December, BioWorld tracked 281 phase I-III clinical trial updates, a decline from the 354 noted in November and 416 reported in October.

Despite a barely open IPO window in 2023, 27 biopharma firms went public in the year. It’s the lowest number since 2012 recorded 11 IPOs in the sector. However, encouraging news is that, overall, the U.S. IPO class of 2023 is up an average of 7.48%.