A strong year is predicted for biopharma business with investment and deal making set to continue apace. Executives across industry share their forecasts for the year ahead.

Around 100 executives highlight the hot areas to watch on the R&D front in 2021. From cancer to CNS and from regenerative medicine to real world data, expectations are high on many fronts.

Public Company Edition: Four health care special purpose acquisition vehicles went public and two others announced mergers, but only one biopharma firm priced an IPO during the week of 19-23 October. Replimune’s $250m offering led recent FOPOs.

Lantern, Avidity, Generation Bio and Vaxcyte launched initial public offerings during the second week of June as biopharma continues to intrigue IPO investors. Also, Blackstone invested $350m in Reata's bardoxolone and Checkmate’s $85m series C led recent VC deals.