The German pharma’s top business development execs explain how they balance IO and targeted cancer therapy in their portfolio, views on major M&A and how to make deals during a global pandemic.

The head of the German family-owned firm's venture fund tells Scrip that investing very early in promising start-ups gives Boehringer Ingelheim "a little bit of a head start" on rival pharma companies in identifying technologies that could translate into therapies five years down the line .

Biopharma financing for the second quarter totaled $12.4 billion, a 25% decrease from Q1 2018. Meanwhile Q2 merger and acquisition deal value reached $101 billion, three-quarters of which came from Takeda's $79 billion takeover of major European player Shire. Alliances – totaling $13.8 billion (a significant decline from the previous quarter's $30.7 billion) – featured large partnerships in the antibody space, the biotechnology industry sector with the highest dollar volume.