Key highlights from July:

• Biotech markets pulled back in July, with performance led by large pharma (+3.6%) and specialty pharma (+2.8%), while small- and micro-cap names lagged; specialty pharma remains positive on the year but continues to trail other sub-sectors
• Deal activity slowed modestly compared to June, with 11 M&A and 15 licensing transactions announced (vs. 13 M&A and 14 licensing in June); 4 M&A deals exceeded $1bn, led by Vertex/Crinetics at $10.0bn, while 6 licensing deals exceeded $1bn, headlined by Sail Biomedicines/Johnson & Johnson at $3.5bn
• Biopharma IPO momentum continued in July, highlighted by Scribe Therapeutics’ offering (the first gene-editing IPO in more than two years), Apnimed’s offering, and a backlog of 14 companies publicly on file with the SEC; recent IPO performance and M&A activity continue to support market receptivity
• Reverse mergers paired with concurrent PIPEs continue to serve as an alternative path to public capital, with four announced in July, including Synlogic/Caldera Therapeutics ($278mm), NextCure/Avere Therapeutics ($320mm), Processa/Vidya Therapeutics ($200mm) and Jasper/Kira Pharmaceuticals ($132mm); legacy public shareholders retained only ~1-2% of each combined company, with PIPE investors taking as much as ~53% (Processa)
• Follow-on financing activity declined, with 14 deals raising $2.2bn (vs. 23 deals / $4.1bn in June), though the average file-to-offer discount narrowed to (8.6%) from (9.6%); private financings also decreased, with 18 deals raising $2.4bn (vs. 29 deals / $3.2bn)
• Clinical results cut both ways in July, as positive data propelled Q32 Bio (bempikibart in severe / very severe alopecia areata, ~+90%) and Arrowhead (plozasiran in severe hypertriglyceridemia, ~+18%) higher, while two Phase 3 misses weighed on AstraZeneca/Ionis’ Wainua in ATTR-CM (Ionis ~(20%)) and Novo Nordisk’s ziltivekimab in ZEUS (~(9%)); catalyst-driven capital formation continued, with Erasca ($550mm), Dyne Therapeutics ($375mm) and Entera Bio ($275mm, +92% T+1) pricing behind data and regulatory updates
• The FDA’s evolving regulatory posture remained a central theme in July, as the agency approved Merck’s Lipfendra (enlicitide), the first oral PCSK9 inhibitor and the clearest demonstration to date of the Commissioner’s National Priority Voucher pilot, which compresses review timelines for drugs meeting five national health priorities; Lipfendra lowered LDL-C by 56% to 59% versus placebo at Week 24 and is priced at $315 per month, roughly half the cost of injectable PCSK9s
• Trade policy came to the foreground in July, as Section 232 pharmaceutical tariffs took effect on July 31, imposing rates of up to 100% on imported patented drugs, active ingredients and key starting materials for the 17 manufacturers named in April, with all other covered importers following on September 29; product from the EU, Japan, Korea and Switzerland carries a reduced 15% rate, while generics, biosimilars, US-origin product, orphan drugs and cell and gene therapies are excluded outright
• Second-quarter earnings dominated the back half of July, with Sanofi lifting full-year guidance to around 10% sales growth at CER on a 17.8% Q2 increase, and Bristol Myers Squibb and UCB also raising 2026 outlooks; Alnylam was an outlier, posting record product revenue of $1,172mm, up 74%, yet cutting full-year TTR guidance to $4.2-4.5bn as second-line ATTR-CM demand normalized