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Public biotech in 2022 — the numbers

Nature Biotechnology volume 41, page 1185 (2023)Cite this article

Mergers were still in the doldrums, although there were several noteworthy multi-billion-dollar acquisitions; Amgen’s $27.8 billion acquisition of Horizon Therapeutics (still under review by the Federal Trade Commission) sits at the top. And the beat goes on into this year with several mega-acquisitions in the first half of the year, including the $43 billion acquisition of antibody–drug conjugate pioneer Seagen by Pfizer. More deals are anticipated as pharma adjusts to the post-Inflation Reduction Act environment, as well as to some noteworthy patent expirations.

For a detailed breakdown of the 2022 cadre of public biotech companies, readers are directed to Supplementary Table 1. The data in this table were provided by consultants EY. Our definition of what constitutes a biotech company, which has changed somewhat with the industry, includes R&D-driven companies built on applications of biological organisms, systems or processes, or the provision of specialist services that facilitate biological understanding. We exclude pharmaceutical companies, medical device firms and contract research organizations to better focus on the unique attributes and situations that make up the research-driven biotech sector.

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Fig. 1: Biotech IPO activity since 2011, showing the amount raised ($ millions) and the number of companies going public.
Fig. 2: NASDAQ biotech index over time.
Fig. 3: Number of biotech companies and employees by market capitalization.
Fig. 4: Public biotech company revenue, R&D spending and net profit or loss by market capitalization.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Senior Editor, Nature Biotechnology https://www.nature.com/nbt/

    Laura DeFrancesco

  2. Turku, Finland

    Riku Lähteenmäki

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  1. Laura DeFrancesco
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  2. Riku Lähteenmäki
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Supplementary Table

Supplementary Table 1

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DeFrancesco, L., Lähteenmäki, R. Public biotech in 2022 — the numbers. Nat Biotechnol 41, 1185 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41587-023-01923-4

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