Improvements in generating, purifying, and delivering RNA material, as well as addressing challenges with degradation by enzymes, have made the RNA class more attractive to drug developers.

Zydus, along with Bristol Myers Squibb and generics companies like Mylan, Cipla and Dr. Reddy’s, has been named in an antitrust suit involving BMS’ blockbuster drug Revlimid. For now, it expects revenues from the generic to stretch beyond Q4 FY’23. Meanwhile, a recent acquisition of Watson, which made APIs for the Teva group, should shore up declining API revenues

With only weeks to go in 2022, the three major pharmas each had inked between 16 and 20 deals. Meanwhile, Pfizer has been less busy with 12 deals, but those include M&A totaling $18.2bn.

Pent-up trial demand during 2020 plus trial modernization strategies yields bumper performance in 2021 as research priorities revert to pre-pandemic trends.