COVID-19 has accelerated global pharma. Let's not underestimate the length of the road ahead

As the coronavirus pandemic continues, the previously out-of-favor global biotech and life sciences sector is seeing significant investment and a reputational boost, writes Maxim Jacobs, managing partner and director of research at Edison Investment Research, in an Expert View.

Over the past decade, US institutional investors have tended to focus on tech businesses, with new biotech or pharmaceutical companies often the realm of specialist investors who ‘understand the science’.

Regulatory pressures, lengthy drug development times and drug price controversy were issues many investors weren’t comfortable with.