Vantage's annual pharma and biotech preview explores what's in store for 2019

The downturn seen in the pharma and biotech sectors in the past few months of 2018 looks set to continue into 2019, with investors in the industry likely to become more cautious.

According to Vantage, the independent editorial arm of Evaluate Ltd, the plus side of this could be a rallying M&A market as valuations drop, but financing will be harder to come by for those without the data to back their ideas.

As for the hottest therapy areas, 2019 will begin with the excitement around immuno-oncology, which has peaked in previous years, tempered somewhat after failures of combination therapies in 2018 - although there are still a number of combination catalysts which could reverse this sentiment. Cell and gene therapies remain popular with investors but how well untested companies hold their valuations will be a telling indicator of industry health.