Despite COVID-19, BioPharma still pushed ahead with M&A in 2020

By Barbara Obstoj-Cardwell

Nearly the whole of 2020 was dominated by the impact of the novel coronavirus, but the global biopharmaceutical industry, apart from being instrumental in bringing to market treatments for the symptoms of COVID-19 as well as vaccines to prevent it, continued about its business in difficult times, including a significant disruption to clinical trial programs due to lack of hospital capacity that was taken up by patients suffering with the virus, and regulatory decisions on drug candidates delayed.

Merger and acquisition activity, which, while being down on the previous year, saw a significant number of M&A deals announced, with companies looking to invest for the long-term in key therapeutic categories such as oncology and cell and gene therapy.