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The Top Five (Non-COVID) Pharma Stories Of 2021

 
• By Kevin Grogan

The emergence and rapid spread of the Omicron variant has kept COVID-19 firmly in the headlines but the biopharma industry has had plenty on its plate on top of tackling the pandemic. Scrip has taken a look back at five of the biggest non-COVID-19 story themes of 2021 in no particular order.

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2021 was a tough year for biopharma • Source: Alamy

M&A activity in 2020 was pretty quiet but positively ear-splitting compared to the first half of 2021. The lack of deals was due in no small part to the US Federal Trade Commission announcing in March that it would work with regulators in the UK, EU and elsewhere when scrutinizing mergers for potential effects on innovation, drug costs and anticompetitive conduct. That created uncertainty that contributed to M&A deals falling to their lowest levels for over a decade.

However, despite the FTC factor, the second half of the year saw some interesting, if relatively small, deals. Sanofi...

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