As biopharma deal values climb, industry M&As are at a five-year low, not yet showing the pickup in 2022 that some analysts expected. BioWorld has recorded 330 deals, including licensings, joint ventures and collaborations, valued at $44.4 billion so far in 2022. That is a 41% increase in volume and a 31% increase in value over the same time frame last year.
From every perspective, the number of biopharma deals with nonprofit or government entities, as well as industry grants, are significantly below last year, and efforts focused on the COVID-19 pandemic have dropped as well.
Despite three mammoth deals signed for antibody-drug conjugates, the BioWorld Cancer Index (BCI), which ended last year down 36%, has fallen another 35% in the early months of 2022. It is a much sharper decline than that seen with the Nasdaq Biotechnology Index and the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which are down 18% and 7.5%, respectively.
Financings in the first two months of 2022 amount to only a third of the money raised during the same timeframe of 2021, and the number of transactions is down by 56%.
A total of seven new molecular entities (NME) have been approved by the U.S. FDA this year, while another seven therapies received dreaded complete response letters from the agency. Out of 9 FDA approvals in February, including two BLAs, three NDAs, three supplemental applications, and one abbreviated NDA, were three NME clearances.
Two years ago, BioWorld reported on 30 therapeutics and vaccines in development for COVID-19, about 3,000 people had died from the disease, and societal lockdowns began. Today, therapeutics and vaccines have ballooned to 1,048, deaths are at 6 million, and the world remains on edge due to highly transmissible variants and breakthrough infections. One thing remains the same: Scientists still do not know where the SARS-CoV-2 virus originated.
The deadly SARS-CoV-2 virus that has cost nearly 6 million lives worldwide and disrupted global economies has brought the biopharma industry $82 billion in sales revenue since the start of the pandemic, with guidance for another $88 billion this year.
Med-tech financings in 2022 appear to be off to a bumpy start. The total amount raised in the first six weeks of the year is at its lowest point in comparison with each of the previous three years. Nevertheless, venture capital rounds, showing no signs of slowing from 2021’s record year, are accounting for the bulk of the activity.
The biopharmaceutical sector is stumbling through the early months of 2022, as investors appear to be pulling back from the enthusiasm that marked much of the last two years. BioWorld’s Biopharmaceutical Index (BBI) is down 4.2% through last week and the Nasdaq Biotechnology Index shows a drop of more than 15%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) has likewise fallen 5.58%. In contrast, BBI had a 10.5% gain in 2020 and a 5.93% gain in 2021. While each of those years represent the top two years for financings in the history of the industry, 2022 appears to be lagging in that regard as well, with January financings down by 55% over the prior year.
