Marking September as the second busiest month, 2021 is more than 6% ahead of last year in terms of reported clinical data, although the gap between the two years has narrowed significantly from 26% in April.

Biotech stocks and the overall market have taken divergent paths in the past month, not unlike what was seen throughout 2020, except this time, they are moving in opposite directions. While BioWorld’s Drug Developers Index (BDDI) appeared to be on the upswing only a month ago, it changed course in the final weeks of September.

With a 14% increase in regulatory news over this time last year, 2021 has proved to be the busiest that the biopharma industry has ever seen, as companies continue to seek clearances of their late-stage pipeline products with a backdrop of an unprecedented number of COVID-19 pandemic efforts.

The speed at which the med-tech industry is completing mergers and acquisitions in 2021 is something quite contrary to the typical slowdown seen when the financing window is open wide. But yet, a total of 477 M&As valued at $109.18 billion have closed in the first three quarters this year, more in volume and value than for each of the previous three years, and during what appears to be the second best year on record for financings. The sector has already raised $42 billion. On the other hand, the lack of disclosed terms continues to weigh heavy on deals, making them appear on paper to be significantly below recent years, down by about 73% in comparison with 2020’s first three quarters. Importantly, though, numbers of completed deals for every quarter and for the combined nine months are at their highest levels ever.

With a growing number of deals worth $1 billion or more, 2021 values are slowly inching past 2020’s record year, as mergers and acquisitions also move higher, indicating a potentially stronger second half of the year.

With more than two months of financings yet to record for the year, the med-tech industry has already raised more money through IPOs and venture capital rounds than in each of the prior four years. But fewer funds collected through follow-on offerings and private placements puts 2021 about 30% below the full-year total for 2020, which was $59.7 billion.

With a growing number of deals worth $1 billion or more, 2021 values are slowly inching past 2020’s record year, as mergers and acquisitions also move higher, indicating a potentially stronger second half of the year.

When the SARS-CoV-2 virus first emerged in the U.S., the knee-jerk reaction by biopharma researchers was to make the best vaccines and therapeutics possible and to do so quickly.

Like an overzealous Olympic runner, impressive and strong at the start of the race but dropping the pace with each subsequent lap, biopharma financings in 2021 grabbed headlines in the early months of the year, but they have significantly slowed down since then.

More than 21 months since the SARS-CoV-2 virus was first identified in Wuhan, China, the questions just keep coming, and the longer they go unanswered, the more divisive the opinions become. Controversies over the efficacy of current vaccines, over whether boosters are necessary for the general population, over the safety of COVID-19 vaccines for young children, over how to distribute the shrinking supply of highly effective monoclonal antibodies, and over how the virus originated in the first place – all of these looming questions have created a firestorm of uncertainty that will not stop burning.