For the first time since February, the BioWorld Biopharmaceutical Index (BBI) took a sharp plummet with shares falling in the last few weeks for 18 of the 22 stock components.
While 2020 is certainly a hard year to beat, 2021 has so far recorded a respectable amount of biopharma deals and is on track to exceed every other year. The number this year, including licensings, collaborations and joint ventures, is trailing 2020 by only 3%. BioWorld has recorded 1,447 deals valued at $131.75 billion in 2021 vs. 1,488 worth $141.56 billion last year. That puts 2021 about 7% behind 2020 on deal values.
While 2020 is certainly a hard year to beat, 2021 has so far recorded a respectable amount of biopharma deals and is on track to exceed every other year.
With one completed med-tech merger ranking within the BioWorld Top 10 list for highest value, and two others set to join the list in coming months, 2021 is turning out to be the strongest M&A year for the industry to date.
Nearly 18% of clinical data reported in August were focused on the COVID-19 pandemic, representing the highest percentage for any single month this year. During the month, as the Delta variant took hold throughout the U.S., news of COVID-19 efforts spiked, doubling the amounts seen in both June and July, in which about 9% of the news was pandemic-related, and up significantly from 10% in May.
Continuing an upward trajectory, BioWorld’s Drug Developers Index (BDDI) has climbed more than 10% since the start of this year, following sharp drops at the end of March and May. Shares began to rebound in June and the index has shown a steady incline, similar with the Nasdaq Biotechnology Index, which is currently up 12%.
With financings falling just shy of last year, the med-tech industry has raised a total of $41.3 billion so far in 2021 through 494 financings. That is down roughly 3% from the 513 financings worth $42.46 billion by this point in 2020. Most of the money last year came through follow-on offerings and private placements, with IPOs and venture capital rounds making up only 26% of the total.
If there is one thing that potently illustrates the hope and despair of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is the zigzag of BioWorld’s Infectious Disease Index. Up by nearly 64%, it is towering over both the Nasdaq Biotechnology Index and the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which are up 12.4% and 15.5%, respectively, but it has experienced several downward swings this year as well.
One more completed stock market debut and 2021 will have officially matched last year with the highest number of biopharma IPOs on record, and amounts collected through venture capital financings have now risen to the top as well.
While the volume of regulatory data is above this point last year by more than 17%, the proportion of COVID-19-related news is nearly the same, as is the number of U.S.-approved new molecular entities (NMEs).
