BioPharm Executive

China is adapting its Life Sciences policy to bolster innovation and data transparency. Big Pharma is taking note.
M&A didn’t return as hoped for in 2024. The biopharma industry is heading into the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference next week in a grim mood.
BioSpace Senior Editor Annalee Armstrong reflects on the year that was, and what’s to come in 2025.
Suddenly the hottest thing in biopharma isn’t a new indication, disease target or modality—it’s manufacturing, and all of pharma is going to be vying for capacity and talent.
AbbVie’s blockbuster Humira held 105 patents, shielding the anti-inflammatory drug from biosimilar competition for more than 20 years. Proposed reforms could help prevent companies from extending exclusivity with such patent thickets.
The EPIC Act has been proposed with bipartisan and industry support to give small molecule drugs the same protection against price negotiation as biologics, but concerns over how to balance the federal budget could prevent a short-term fix to the IRA.
IPO
Around 25 companies have gone public this year, most of them in the early months. Most have tumbled from their original offer price.
By far, the largest acquisition of 2024 was Novo Holdings’ yet-to-be-closed buyout of manufacturer Catalent at $16.5 billion. Outside of that, the leading pharmaceutical companies kept to less than $5 billion per deal.
President-elect Donald Trump and his incoming administration are unlikely to attempt a wholesale restructuring of U.S. healthcare and could promote M&A activity, but controversial picks like Robert F. Kennedy could impact vaccine sales, experts say.
Not exactly known for its dealmaking, Sarepta Therapeutics has thrown down a massive wad of cash to work with Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals on RNAi-based medicines.