RNA, cell & gene therapies, artificial
intelligence, CRISPR and oncology related deals dominate the
landscape
Biotech companies in U.S. awarded largest sums
of capital, followed by Mainland China and UK
LONDON, March 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Clarivate
Plc (NYSE: CLVT), a global leader in providing trusted
information and insights to accelerate the pace of innovation,
today announced the release of a new report, Biopharma deals in
review: Review of an extraordinary 2021 and expectations for the
future Biopharma Deals, which highlights emerging market trends
and features detailed analysis of the key deals of 2021 and
potential implications for 2022. This year's report finds RNA, cell
& gene therapies, AI, CRISPR and oncology related deals
dominated the landscape in 2021. In addition, U.S. biotech
companies raised the majority of capital followed by Mainland China
and the UK.
While the volume of biotech investments has lessened, 2021 was
yet another extraordinary year for biopharma deal-making. Trends
driving licensing, collaborations and joint ventures included: a
maturation of deals toward co-development and co-commercialization,
the increasingly global nature of deal-making, continued energy
around oncology therapeutics and pharma companies seeking footholds
within the enabling technologies underpinning next-generation
treatments.
As the COVID-19 pandemic evolves to become endemic, life science
industries will continue to assess the changing drug development
landscape. Emerging trends suggest innovators and investors will
drive the next great advances in human health. This year's
Biopharma Deals report findings, include:
- Investments continue record-breaking trends, while M&As
track downward - Continuing the record-setting pace in the
first half of 2021,1 a new record was set for global
biopharma licensing, collaborations and joint venture deals in all
of 2021. A record 1,968 deals were announced in 2021, and the total
value of these ventures for which financial details were disclosed
was $213.6 billion, up from
$198.2 billion in 2020.2
Overall, 2021 had the highest total financing and deals value over
the past five years. This was driven by a number of high-value
transactions; 72 deals were worth at least $1 billion for a combined value of $136.5 billion, reaching a new height. This
compares with 58 such deals worth $118.0
billion in 2020, 40 such deals valued at $92.5 billion in 2019 and 31 such deals worth
$63.6 billion in
2018.3
- Top deals are increasing - Several of the top deals in
2021 involved co-development and/or co-commercialization of assets.
Well-financed biotech companies are becoming less interested in
capital investments and more interested in deals that grant them
the ability to retain commercialization rights and integrate their
assets across the development lifecycle.
- Biotech companies in the United
States awarded largest sums of capital - A deep dive
into BioWorld data showed that, in 2021, biotech companies based in
the United States raised the
majority from private and venture sources — accounting for 67% of
all monies raised worldwide. Massachusetts-based companies accounted for
30% of all VC financing. Companies from the San Francisco Bay area
collected 13% of the global total, just ahead of Mainland
China-based biotechs, which had a 12% share of the global take.
Biotech companies based in the United
Kingdom attracted a 9% share of the total, nudging just
ahead of the San Diego cluster
(8%). In addition, partnerships established by companies in the
Asia-Pacific (APAC) region
indicate there is growing interest in accessing global markets,
potentially with the goal of maximizing the returns on investment
beyond what can be achieved in their local markets. These
partnerships primarily focus on gene, RNA and oncology therapies,
in keeping with the themes observed across all deal-making in
2021.
- RNA technology gains traction with investors -
The COVID-19 pandemic has propelled adoption of RNA-based vaccines
and therapies, helping to pave the way for others to enter the
market. Both established and start-up companies are investing money
into determining where mRNA, self-amplifying RNA (saRNA), small
interfering RNA (siRNA) and RNA interference (RNAi) will have the
greatest benefit.
- Investments in CRISPR are likely to benefit rare
diseases - CRISPR techniques also have the potential to
transform therapeutic approaches for diseases with very few
treatment options. As a result, CRISPR has emerged as a hot
platform in the past decade, with a number of biotech companies
developing therapeutic approaches using the technology.
- Oncology-related deals and M&As dominate the
landscape - Oncology-focused deals accounted for a large
proportion of global biopharma licensing, collaborations and joint
venture transactions (29% of all deals) in 2021. Of these, 25 were
valued at more than $1 billion, and
nine reached at least the $2 billion
mark.4
Mike Ward, Global Head of Life
Sciences and Healthcare Thought Leadership,
Clarivate: "The desire to develop innovative medicines
that will deliver better and more robust health outcomes for
patients will continue to be a key driver for biopharma deal-making
activity. While pharma companies will still look to acquire
potential blockbuster treatments to replace existing products that
are losing patent protection, others are urgently seeking inroads
to the enabling technologies being developed by biotechs, such as
gene and cell therapies, genome-editing, antibody-drug conjugates,
RNA technologies and AI/ML applications, which are expected to
underpin the next generation of transformative blockbusters."
Clarivate is committed to supporting customers across the entire
drug, device and medical technology lifecycles to advance, create
and protect innovation. By combining patient journey data,
therapeutic area expertise, artificial intelligence and analytics
in ways that unlock hidden insights, data-driven decisions and
accelerate innovation, Clarivate's end-to-end research intelligence
is designed to enable customers to make informed evidence-based
decisions and better understand the changing landscape.
The full Biopharma Deals Report can be accessed here.
Join the conversation, use hashtag #BioPharmaDeals2022 and
mention Clarivate for Life Sciences & Healthcare on
Twitter and LinkedIn.
Methodology for the Report
Clarivate technology and experts harmonize billions of
datapoints from thousands of sources and provide a unified view to
drive decision-making for a variety of use cases, including
deal-making, forecasting, portfolio strategy and more. Leveraging
data and insights from BioWorld™ and Cortellis Deals
Intelligence™, as well as a proprietary, predictive
analytics which draw on more than 20 traits from across the entire
body of Cortellis data, including 110,000+ life sciences deals,
36,000+ contracts and 9,500+ unredacted contracts, Clarivate
drew upon technology and expertise to harmonize datapoints from
multiple sources to provide a unified view of deal-making in 2021
and potential implications.
To learn more about Clarivate data products,
visit www.clarivate.com.
About Clarivate
Clarivate™ is a global leader in providing solutions to accelerate
the lifecycle of innovation. Our bold mission is to help customers
solve some of the world's most complex problems by providing
actionable information and insights that reduce the time from new
ideas to life-changing inventions in the areas of science and
intellectual property. We help customers discover, protect and
commercialize their inventions using our trusted subscription and
technology-based solutions coupled with deep domain expertise. For
more information, please visit clarivate.com.
Media Contact
Catherine Daniel
Director, External Communications, Life Sciences &
Healthcare
media.enquiries@clarivate.com
1 Source: Biopharma deals in review: a look back at
an energetic H1 and what to expect next. Clarivate, [online],
Available at: https://clarivate.com/lp/biopharma-deals-in-review/.
(accessed on February 21, 2022).
2 Carey, K. Deals reach a record $213.5B, as M&As in 2021 struggle
(January 12, 2022). BioWorld,
[online], Available at:
https://www.bioworld.com/articles/515071-deals-reach-a-record-2135b-as-m-and-as-in-2021-struggle.
(accessed on February 21, 2022).
3 Source: BioWorld; Cortellis Deals Intelligence
4 Source: BioWorld; Cortellis Deals Intelligence
Logo -
https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1159266/Clarivate_Logo.jpg