More than 100 biopharma executives and experts told Scrip their predictions for therapeutic area advances in the coming year. The recent commercial success of GLP-1s in diabetes and obesity and their potential in further disease areas fuelled excitement around the metabolic space. Expectations were also positive in neurology following the launch of Leqembi for Alzheimer’s disease in 2023, while the multiple opportunities to improve cancer treatment kept oncology top of the pile overall.

In addition, deals involving Lupin/Medisol, Junshi/Dr. Reddy's, Zai Lab/MediLink, Kyowa Kirin/ADVANZ, Ipca/Unichem, Jiangsu Aidea/Kainos.

While most of the cash for Swiss biotech firms comes from outside the country, around 20% is provided by Swiss entities. Scrip spoke with two of these home-grown supporters of life sciences innovation about the move from academia to industry and their respective investment strategies.

Immuno-oncology is a key area for biological drug development and activity has exploded over the past decade. Today, IO therapies represent a third of the biologics pipeline, and antibody development remains the focus.