Dr. Daniel Koller looks back at 2020 and explains the breakthroughs in the biotech industry, why BB Biotech had already invested in Moderna in 2018, and the new additions to the portfolio.
The fourth quarter 2020 provided multiple major milestones for our portfolio holdings such as clinical results, regulatory decisions, licensing deals and M&A transactions.
During the pandemic FDA and other regulatory bodies around the world has worked quite efficiently and we saw more than 50 new drug approvals in the US in 2020. We are expecting to see a significant number of approvals in 2021 with several of those coming from BB Biotech´s portfolio companies.
BB Biotech invests in fast-growing biotechnology companies that are developing and marketing innovative drugs. It focuses on biotech companies whose products address areas of significant unmet medical needs and thus have above-average sales and profit-growth potential.
The renowned Board of Directors of BB Biotech AG has many years of industrial and scientific experience. A team of proven biotech specialists from Bellevue Asset Management AG takes care of investments in the most attractive biotech companies.
mRNA technology is representative of the innovative power of the entire biotech industry
The global coronavirus pandemic put the biotech sector squarely in the focus of the investment community. Having produced the very first vaccines for coronavirus disease, the biotechnology sector has emerged as a key player in the race to overcome the grave medical and economic challenges the world now faces. Moderna, the US company that has developed an mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccine, is the latest shining example of the progress biotech companies are making for the good of society.
BB Biotech anticipates that 2021 will bring significant technology progress and new products that address important unmet medical needs. In addition to established treatment areas such as oncology, orphan diseases and neurological indications, attention will increasingly center on rapidly developing promising technologies that offer tremendous economic value thanks to their excellent therapeutic profile. Bearing that in mind, we cast a spotlight on two companies that investors should be following.
Prof. Dr. Daniel Paris, Director, Department of Medicine at the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, University of Basel, talked about COVID-19, especially his views regarding the potential implications of the new virus variants first identified in the United Kingdom, South Africa and Brazil and what measures should be taken, during a webinar hosted by BB Biotech in early February.
