The rate of growth of the pharma pipeline slowed last year as oncology and rare diseases tightened their grip on R&D. There are also further signs of China’s rise in importance in the industry.

Pfizer expects its acquisition of Seagen to result in $10bn in new revenue by 2030 as the big pharma applies its resources to the target company’s pioneering antibody-drug conjugate technology.

Pfizer and Seagen reportedly are in merger discussions, signaling Pfizer’s willingness to invest significantly in antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) for cancer.

Excluding the multinational majors AstraZeneca and GSK, the UK has yet to produce a truly successful scaled pharma company, despite having boasted several innovative start-ups. Whether that represents a negative, however, is a matter for debate.