How The Pandemic Changed Deal-Making Between Biotechs And Big Pharma

23 Sep 2021

Speakers on a panel about health care deal-making discussed the influx of capital into biotech during the past two years, how that has impacted deal-making and whether those changes will last.

Coronavirus stocks — The COVID-19 pandemic actually had a positive effect on the biotech sector, but will it last?

An unexpected but largely positive aspect of the pandemic has been the ample flow of capital into the biotechnology sector as companies came up with innovations for preventing and treating COVID-19. Investors responded out of a sense of urgency, and with that came an adjustment in the balance of power between biotechs and big pharma companies. It has reframed the landscape for biopharma business development, panelists noted at the Dechert Healthcare Deals Conference on 23 September.

Many biotechs are flush with cash, giving them greater optionality in how they advance their programs. Prices for earlier-stage and even preclinical assets have risen. Initial public offerings for biotech firms set a full-year record before the end of Q3 2021. (Also see "Finance Watch: 2021 Now Has More IPOs Than 2020, But With $3.2bn Less" - Scrip, 17 September, 2021