Relatively upbeat during the company’s Q1 call based on Amgen’s product mix, executives expect the biggest coronavirus-related sales impacts in Q2 with stabilization and growth in the second half.

Financing for biopharma companies increased by 19% in Q4 to $15.8bn. M&A value quadrupled, compared with Q3, thanks to nine billion-dollar-plus transactions, led by the buy-out of Nestle Skin Health, now Galderma.Among the key alliances of Q4 were recurring themes of gene therapy and oncology, but also big investments in oligonucleotide technologies.

Scrip spoke with R&D head David Reese about improving R&D timelines and success rates, including through the use of genomics and proteomics, as data readouts near for key drugs in big indications.