No one could have anticipated that 2020 would bring a once-in-a-century pandemic. But if there is one silver lining to the Covid-19 crisis, it’s that biotech and pharma companies stepped up to the plate in a major way. Breakthrough innovations, including the first batch of a brand-new vaccine technology, lead our inaugural Forbes Biotech & Pharma Awards. But while many companies soared, others flopped, dropping the ball on key drugs in the pipeline.
With input from Alan Carr, Needham biotech analyst, and Ann DeWitt, general partner at MIT-backed venture firm the Engine, here are the best products, most intriguing people and most exciting trends of 2020 in biotech and pharma.
Best Product: mRNA vaccines
The standout product of the year was mRNA vaccines, says Carr. This year, two companies that focus on mRNA vaccines, Moderna and BioNTech, showed the world the potential of this new technology. In what has been the fastest timeline to produce a vaccine in modern history, both companies developed highly effective vaccines against Covid-19 in less than a year, with BioNTech partnering with Pfizer. When the pandemic ends, these vaccines will be a major reason why.
Most Intriguing Newcomer: Cellino Biotech
A Forbes 30 Under 30 alum from 2019, Cellino Biotech is making waves— and tissues. The Cambridge, Massachusetts-based company, backed by the Engine at MIT, uses new technology to create regenerative tissues out of pluripotent stem cells. In other words, they’re creating lab-grown tissues and organs that can one day restore vision loss and treat other diseases.
Cellino Biotech
Disruptive Innovator: Crispr Therapeutics
Both Carr and DeWitt named Zug, Switzerland-based Crispr Therapeutics as one of the most disruptive innovators of the year. Crispr Therapeutics, partnering with Vertex Pharmaceuticals, is developing a Crispr-based gene-editing treatment for blood diseases including sickle cell disease and beta thalassemia. In December, Crispr Therapeutics reported some “very impressive data” at the annual American Society of Hematology meeting, says Carr: All ten sickle cell and beta thalassemia patients given the treatment responded well and did not need pain management after treatment.
Best Firm: Moderna
Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Moderna has been hard at work all year creating what will likely be one of the first vaccines to prevent Covid-19. But why pick Moderna as our outstanding company over the other mRNA vaccine creators, Pfizer and BioNTech? Carr puts it simply: “Given that Moderna developed [its vaccine] without a pharma partner, I give them the edge for company of the year over BioNTech.” He calls Moderna’s efforts heroic, explaining, “A relatively young company with new technology develops what appears to be a very effective vaccine in record time for the worst pandemic in a century.”
Annus Horribilis: Biogen
Biogen, the $14.4 billion-in-2019-sales Cambridge, Massachusetts-based maker of what was once the most promising new drug for the treatment of Alzheimer’s, was the biggest loser this year, say both Carr and DeWitt. Its drug aducanumab once seemed like a promising treatment for the devastating disease, but the company was raked over the coals by an independent FDA advisory board in November after submitting several studies that didn’t show the effectiveness of the drug. Now, the advocacy group Public Citizen is urging Health and Human Services to investigate an “inappropriate collaboration” between Biogen and the FDA. Finally, to add insult to injury, the company’s annual conference in Boston in February was actually a superspreader event that has been linked to more than 300,000 cases of Covid-19.
Forbes Forecast: Vaccine bonanza
Moderna, Pfizer and BioNTech may be the first companies to get a vaccine authorized for Covid-19, but they certainly won’t be the last. Be on the lookout for vaccines from Johnson & Johnson, Novavax and pharma companies out of China and Russia. Not only will the vaccines hopefully start turning the tide of the pandemic, but they will create huge profits for the companies that make them. Additionally, mRNA vaccines will likely become a heavily used technology because they are so fast to make. Be on the lookout for trials of mRNA vaccines that prevent Zika virus and even cancers including melanoma.
And drumroll, please ...
The Forbes Biotech & Pharma Person Of The Year: Dr. Anthony Fauci
Who else but Dr. Fauci? Last year, the good doctor was the little-known director of the National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the NIH. This year, he became a national symbol of courage and scientific reason as other parts of the U.S. government fumbled in responding to the pandemic.
Dr. Anthony Fauci
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December 24, 2020 at 06:30PM
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