Although oncology remained strong, Japanese major says it saw multiple impacts from the pandemic, including on hospital visits and clinical trial recruitment, and has already cut its full-year guidance.

The recent reimbursement and launch of Zolgensma showed Japan willing and able to approve and pay for gene therapies, and others including from Otsuka/Takara Bio are moving forward under a supportive regulatory framework.

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.