The largest swings in stock price in 2021 can partly, or mostly, be attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic, as biopharma solutions either saved the world or fell short, depending on the newest emerging variant. Those ups and downs have led the BioWorld Biopharmaceutical Index to a nearly flat position in comparison with the beginning of the year. It is up by only 0.33%. The Nasdaq Biotech Index, however, is up 4.6%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average, representing the broader markets, is up by 14.13%.

Although 2021 med-tech deal volume is 13% higher than last year, the deals represent less than half the value recorded in 2020. The industry has completed 1,576 deals, including licensings, collaborations and joint ventures, through mid-December of 2021. They are valued at $2.13 billion. A total of 573 M&As, on the other hand, have reached $144.75 billion, a 282% rise over 2020.

At more than $48.2 billion raised through mid-December, the med-tech industry has recorded another stellar financing year – one that is 19% below 2020, but above every other year to date.

There was no slowing of biopharma innovation in 2021, even as industry directed significant resources to, while feeling the impact of, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The year saw big wins for developers of DNA vaccines and biosimilars, while CAR T expanded its reach and a drug target once considered undruggable was finally conquered. And as 2021 gives way to 2022, other potentially game-changing technologies and therapeutics are waiting in the wings.

Every year, the BioWorld team takes time to look back and assess the market-moving and life-changing stories and trends of the year. Without a doubt, COVID-19 shook humanity to the core, again. And like glioblastoma, the tentacles of COVID-19 invaded far beyond the obvious and ultimately changed the world. So that’s our top story of the year. But the biopharmaceutical industry is resilient and responsive. Even though there were tectonic shifts in efforts to bring an armamentarium of COVID-19 vaccines and therapeutics to patients with record-breaking speed, work continued on other fronts, because people are still getting sick with cancer, succumbing to horrible diseases like Alzheimer’s and issues such as the battle over drug prices rage on.