Industry leaders share their expectations around COVID-19 for the coming year. Further product development and vaccine rollout will be key themes in 2021. Equitable supply and addressing the mental health challenges associated with lockdowns also loom large.

Private Company Edition: Last year set a high bar for venture capital, but this year is starting strong. Recent VC mega-deals include $500m for EQRx and $230m-plus for Tessera Therapeutics. Also, BioGeneration Ventures closed a €140m ($170.2m) fund and NewAmsterdam raised a $196m series A.

Initial public offerings by Norbert Bischofberger’s start-up as well as Spruce Biosciences and Shattuck Labs bring the US total to 64 in 2020. Also, the pipeline of health care SPACs is growing, Everest and Genor went public in Hong Kong, Idorsia leads recent follow-on offerings and Corbus cuts jobs.

Recent submissions include what could be the fourth novel agent approved under the RTOR pilot.