Although there weren’t many large-scale partnerships as in previous years, Korean biopharma firms were involved in a broad range of deals across diverse therapeutic areas in 2020, with ADCs, oncology and domestic alliances emerging as key trends. 

Public Company Edition: Three companies postponed or withdrew their offerings, but drug developers continue to pursue IPOs. Also, Biocon, BMS and Epizyme raised money through new debt, Five Prime capitalized on positive data and Synthetic Biologic engaged a strategic advisor.

Through a licensing-out deal with ORIC for its EGFR/HER2 exon-20 inhibitor, South Korea's Voronoi hopes to gain from its new partner's commercialization experience in NSCLC. The alliance aims to build a potentially best-in-class presence in a competitive landscape.

Lantern, Avidity, Generation Bio and Vaxcyte launched initial public offerings during the second week of June as biopharma continues to intrigue IPO investors. Also, Blackstone invested $350m in Reata's bardoxolone and Checkmate’s $85m series C led recent VC deals.