The market slump at the beginning of February affected virtually all of the stocks of the top 50 pharmaceutical companies. But unpredicted clinical successes or surprisingly good financials still kept a few companies above water.

Despite administering a total of 2.2 billion COVID-19 shots, China as the first country to experience the coronavirus outbreak has yet to open its borders, while more effective mRNA vaccines are still nowhere to be found amid apparent delays for the licensed-in lead candidate.

Despite multiple challenges including pricing pressures and slowing general economic growth, China offers attractive opportunities for emerging biopharma firms, helped by an encouraging regulatory environment. But weighing up options around challenging areas including partnering is essential, a new report states.