Signs of hope at the end of March were quickly dashed in the last several weeks as BioWorld’s Biopharmaceutical Index (BBI) plunged once again, albeit not as dramatically as the Nasdaq Biotechnology Index. The BBI is down by 4.4% for the year, as of May 11, while NBI has fallen 28.5%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down by 12.4%. It is a situation that several analysts say could provide an opportunity for investors.
For the first time since the early weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, global deaths caused by the disease have fallen to their lowest point, as immunity against the SARS-CoV-2 virus and its variants continues to build. Infections and deaths appear to be decelerating, an optimistic sign that the pandemic may be nearing an end.
With 47% fewer biopharma financings than last year, investors who were once enthused over the industry’s potential in combatting the deadly SARS-CoV-2 virus appear to be taking a step back. So far in 2022, the industry has raised $18 billion across 346 financings through the first week of May. By the same time in 2021, it had raised three times that amount, $53.9 billion through 651 transactions.
In sharp contrast with the biopharma industry, the med-tech industry has completed mergers and acquisitions worth a record amount in the first quarter of 2022, with the $63.7 billion combined value towering over every full year prior to 2021.
As the U.S. FDA transitions to another new commissioner, the number of approvals has dropped to the lowest levels in seven years and is 19% below those approved by this time last year.
For the first time since the early weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, global deaths caused by the disease have fallen to their lowest point, as immunity against the SARS-CoV-2 virus and its variants continues to build. Infections and deaths appear to be decelerating, an optimistic sign that the pandemic may be nearing an end.
While BioWorld’s Drug Developers Index appeared to be moving in the right direction last month, it did an about-face in April and is now at its lowest point this year, down 23.1%, following the same trajectory as both the Nasdaq Biotechnology Index and the Dow Jones Industrial Average.
More than a quarter of all clinical data reported this year are targeting cancer indications, as pandemic news dips and overall activity drops by 12.5%.
The amount of money raised by med-tech companies in the early months of 2022 is the lowest amount recorded for a first quarter since 2017. Financings in 2021 were down by 17% over the prior year, which was marked by a flurry of activity and interest in digital technologies and diagnostics with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Although efforts focused on COVID-19 continue to fade and there are fewer collaborations than in previous years, the biopharma industry has recorded record value from mega-deals in the first quarter (Q1) of 2022, topping all recent years, as executives continue to opt against costly mergers and acquisitions.
