Outlook 2022

Scrip takes a look back at the milestone events in the South Korean pharma and biotech industry in 2021 and ahead at what's in store for the coming year, which has kicked off with speculation around a major potential M&A deal.

The COVID-19 pandemic dealt a blow to Johnson & Johnson’s Vision Care business, but the company maintained its innovation program and kept customer engagement to the fore. It has started to see a return to positive contact lens buying trends, says Vision Care European business leaders Sandra Rasche and Lisa Ann Hill.

Medtech’s resilience and flexibility have been clear to see during the COVID-19 pandemic. In this forward-looking view for 2022, CEOs from some of the Top 50 global medtechs share their perspectives on the present and the future, from company and health care system standpoints.

Experts foresee the digital therapeutics market growing to $6bn-$9bn by 2025, driven in part by tech-empowered consumers and patients looking for solutions to better manage their own health and conditions. For medtechs, collaborations with software-driven start-ups will be key to harnessing personalized data and differentiating themselves in the marketplace.

Medtech’s resilience and flexibility have been clear to see during the COVID-19 pandemic. In this forward-looking view for 2022, CEOs from some of the Top 50 global medtechs share their perspectives on the present and the future, from company and health care system standpoints.    

The biopharma industry broke records again in 2021 with the amount of money raised for drug development. After a year of rapid growth, what will 2022 bring for market dynamics and R&D catalysts in biopharma?

The COVID-19 pandemic dealt a blow to Johnson & Johnson’s Vision Care business, but the company maintained its innovation program and kept customer engagement to the fore. It has started to see a return to positive contact lens buying trends, says Vision Care European business leaders Sandra Rasche and Lisa Ann Hill.

The EU research-based pharma industry is exploring partnerships to develop an app that would extract data from the new Clinical Trial Information System and convert it into lay format to guide patients interested in participating in studies.

As CEO Michael Goettler provides an update on the progress made by Viatris in its first year as a combined company, he also offers Generics Bulletin hints as to the detailed strategy that will be unveiled at the firm’s upcoming investor day and explains how biosimilars – including interchangeable Semglee (insulin glargine) – and complex generics are important components of the firm’s future growth plans.

New ‘Type D’ meetings will be added as part of PDUFA VII, one of a spate of changes under the next version of the user fee program that will begin in October 2022.

Sanofi’s general medicines business will embrace an omnichannel commercial model in 2022 to reduce inefficiencies and stabilize topline growth. Virtual sales reps are on the rise after a tough couple of years managing product promotion and launches online only. 

Global research and development for preventative vaccines and therapeutics to treat COVID-19 have progressed at a rapid pace. Still, key issues remain and to the dampen the effects of virus in 2022, even greater collaboration is needed.

Medtech Insight outlines major trends shaping the top 15 cardiovascular device companies included in the latest Medtech 100 rankings. They include a growing need to reach underserved patient populations, ongoing staffing and other challenges created by the COVID-19 pandemic, and reimbursement obstacles.

Should Robert Califf gain a second term as US FDA commissioner, he likely will find that many of the issues demanding attention remain the same as when he left the agency five years ago, even though the names of the products now linked with them are different.

The performances of the leading medtechs in the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic were impossible to compare and certainly unrepresentative of normal business cycles and competitive activity. Elective care was largely put on hold and emergency needs boosted exceptional demand for certain product types. More than anything else, 2020 tested management skills and planning.

The Scrip 100 universe gathers FY 2020 financial performance data and compares the activities of the top 100 biopharma businesses, ranked by pharma sales. 

Pfizer has dropped to number seven in our top pharma rankings after a long reign. AbbVie has risen to number three, growing through merger expansion.

In Vivo outlines major trends shaping the top 15 cardiovascular device companies included in the latest Medtech 100 rankings. They include a growing need to reach underserved patient populations, ongoing staffing and other challenges created by the COVID-19 pandemic, and reimbursement obstacles.

While US biosimilar approvals have been thin on the ground in 2021 – with products delayed due to the FDA’s inability to conduct certain facility inspections during the COVID-19 pandemic – the market has nevertheless seen several firsts this year, including two interchangeability designations and the first ophthalmic biosimilar approval.

Operation Warp Speed’s seal was a combination of ’70s design, au courant clip art, and 18th Century militarism, but just like the oddly assembled organization that it represented, the thing worked.