Evaluate Vantage Pharma, Biotech & Medtech Half-Year Review 2020

Biopharma was not exempt from the initial shock of a global pandemic, but the worst projections have not happened and the initial beneficiaries have now emerged.

After a near universal first quarter stumble, big and medium cap pharma companies finished the half in style, with stocks up $190bn since the end of 2019. The picture is even better for young drug developers, as the Nasdaq biotech index hit an all-time high, up 17% from January. Medtechs have found the first half of 2020 more challenging, with success or failure largely defined by their product’s ability to help in the fight against COVID-19.

Discover what has driven the remarkable turn-around for biopharma and why biotech is on track for a record year for venture finance, despite the global pandemic.

Report Highlights:

• Biopharma has shrugged off first quarter losses to end the halfway point of 2020 ahead of 2019.
• Eli Lilly topped the big cap share price gainers, achieving a 25% increase, but most struggled, with Pfizer (-17%) and Merck & Co (-15%) coming off worse.
• US biotech Novavax’s $1.6bn award made it the biggest beneficiary of the US Government’s Project Warp Speed. A 1994% share price gain also saw it become the best-performing stock of 2020.
• Five COVID-19 vaccines have generated clinical data so far, with Pfizer/Biontech’s BNT162 perceived as market favourite.
• Gilead’s remdesivir is the frontrunner for COVID-19 treatments, having received US FDA approval under emergency use measures, despite efficacy questions.
• Biotechs have raised more than they set out to so far in 2020, and the average IPO of $193m is a new record