Biopharma's Evolution and Future Resilience in Asia

As the world emerges from the COVID-19 crisis, the global biopharma industry remains under spotlight. Recent advancements in the sector such as MRNA-based vaccines, use of artificial intelligence Al) in drug discovery, exploration of cell and gene therapies, have the potential to reshape lives, offering hope in the face of looming threats such as pandemics and antimicrobial resistance. Based on five pillars supply chain resilience, talent pool, R&D ecosystem, manufacturing agility, and government policy and regulation, Cytiva has unveiled the findings of the 2023 Global Biopharma Resilience Index, to help us identify the gaps in the industry now, and how to mitigate current challenges for a stronger future within Asia Pacific and Southeast Asia.

- Ayesha Siddiqui

The rapid deployment of mRNA vaccines in response to COVID-19 catalysed a new era in vaccinology and reignited interest in nucleic acid therapies. Artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled research is accelerating therapeutic development, with the opportunity to radically improve patient outcomes. Breakthroughs in cell and gene therapies (CGTs) have the potential to treat genetic diseases. Despite these breakthroughs and opportunities, however, sustained high growth is not a certainty for the industry.

The emergency funding boost of 2020 and 2021 has fallen away, with financing for small and mid-size biotech firms in novel therapeutics pulling back in 2021. The funding landscape remains challenging in 2023 as cost of capital, economic insecurity, talent shortages, regulatory challenges, and disruption all continue to affect the sector.

To assess the strength of the global industry in these turbulent times, Cytiva created the Global Biopharma Resilience Index. Introduced in 2021, the index scores and ranks countries on five factors: Supply chain resilience; Talent pool; R&D ecosystem; Manufacturing agility; Government policy and regulation. According to the 2023 index, based on data from a survey of 1250 pharma and biopharma executives across 22 countries, performance across three of the five pillars i.e. talent pool, R&D ecosystem, and government policy and regulation, has weakened. The pillar that has suffered most over the past two years is the R&D ecosystem, which fell from 6.54 in 2021 to 5.22 in 2023.