Foreword
Biopharma experts knew that 2024 was unlikely to be the year that pharma came roaring back in a blaze of mega-mergers, high profile IPOs and eye-watering private investment rounds. And looking back on the year, at least we can say we didn’t get our hopes up too much, despite what looked like a promising start.
But was 2024 a damp squib? Or was it as much as we could reasonably expect after the pain of 2023? In this round-up we look at the dealmaking landscape of the past 12 months, seek out the highs and lows, and consider what it means for the year ahead.
Let’s start at the bottom and work our way up: M&A. A busy first quarter sparked hopes of a return to some dynamic dealmaking, but those hopes were soon dashed. The rest of the year slithered downhill with ever-reducing deal values and wasn’t even rescued by a Q4 surge as we’d seen for the previous two years. The best that can be said of year end is that deal volume increased.
In slightly better news, the IPO window creaked open a little further. Total flotations hit 38 – up from 2023 and 2022, though well below the Covid-inspired peak that nearly blew the window off its hinges. There is no shortage of private biotechs looking to launch IPOs in 2025, but they need the fragile markets to stabilize and the global economy to settle before they take the plunge.
Onto the better news: venture capital fundraising for biopharma companies had a strong year end, boosting the year’s total to over $28bn and beating 2023 and 2022. There were even some mega-rounds for the industry to get excited about, including a $400m series A round for Kailera, a company focused on – you guessed it – obesity. Back with a bump, then though, as we look at a far from vintage year for biotech in terms of stock performance.
Finally, we look at the dynamics of some of the drugs that hit the market in 2024. Recent themes remain apparent with big launches around metabolic disease and neurological conditions in the top 12 list. What’s most interesting, though, is the fact that half of those top launches do not sit with Big Pharma but instead with small or first-time-to-market firms.
Is pharma’s glass half full or half empty? Grab a (full) cup of coffee and let’s find out…
For more timely, data-driven insights into the pharma market, check out Scrip and In Vivo.
