After the post-pandemic euphoria, the optimism that accompanied the race to vaccines shattered against higher interest rates, stricter funding conditions, and an industry not yet ready to turn the boom's promises into sustainable results. In the following years, however, the sector managed to regroup: companies cut costs, refocused their pipelines, and let data, not narratives, guide decisions. Today, the results of that reset are beginning to emerge clearly. Scientific innovation meets more disciplined capital and a macroeconomic environment that is gradually becoming favourable again. This is not a fleeting rebound, but the start of a more mature growth cycle, built on validated platforms, rational funding, and an engine that knows no crisis: the universal need for health. The biotech emerging from this phase is no longer the same as it was in 2021. The burn-through-cash model has faded, replaced by leaner, data-driven companies focused on execution. This new discipline now meets growing demand for innovation from big pharma and institutional investors.

In the third quarter of 2025, M&A deals in the healthcare and life sciences sector exceeded $70 billion, the highest volume since 2019, with biopharma alone generating about $31 billion across more than thirty strategic acquisitions. Oncology, rare diseases, and genetic medicine remain the most dynamic segments, where science translates most quickly into industrial value. With patent cliffs approaching, major pharmaceutical groups are mobilising around $1.3 trillion in cash to secure growth for the next decade. When a giant invests billions in a biotech company, it is not chasing a trend: it is buying pipelines, future relevance, and the chance to remain a protagonist in the next generation of therapeutics. The ongoing transformation is not just financial but structural. The next wave of growth hinges on the evolution of gene and cell therapies, which are moving from labs to scalable industrial models. The FDA has already approved more than 35 such treatments, and industry estimates point to up to 50 new approvals by 2030. Globally, nearly 4,000 clinical programs are underway using genetic, cellular, and RNA-based approaches—a broad, increasingly mature pipeline.

The story of Baby KJ marks a turning point for the entire ecosystem. He is the world's first patient treated with a custom-designed CRISPR gene-editing therapy to correct an ultra-rare genetic mutation.

The success demonstrated that personalised medicine is no longer a theoretical concept but a clinical reality. The impact, however, went far beyond the single case and prompted the FDA to rethink its regulatory approach to gene therapies for small patient populations. As anticipated by Vinay Prasad, director of the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, the FDA is ready to release a new framework to accelerate the review and approval of gene-editing therapies. “Regulation must evolve at the same speed as science,” Prasad stated, highlighting a crucial shift. After years of caution, the regulatory machine is finally adapting to the pace of innovation. This paradigm change is not only scientific but also economic. Faster processes and more predictable guidelines reduce regulatory uncertainty and strengthen investor confidence, creating the conditions for a stable and lasting return of capital to the sector.

Today, the biopharmaceutical industry has the foundations to turn research into industry. Biomanufacturing, global supply chains, and advanced regulatory expertise make new therapies replicable and sustainable. What were once isolated discoveries are now an industrial process capable of efficiently and predictably bringing innovation from lab to patient.

This new scenario has not escaped investors. After years of absence, institutional capital is returning to biotech, attracted by valuations at decade-low levels. Many companies trade at single-digit revenue multiples, far below those of big tech, while operating in one of the broadest and most resilient markets: human health. Smart money today favours tangible innovation, cash flow visibility, and sustainable models.

Partnerships, milestone-based acquisitions, and licensing agreements are growing, signs of a now-mature ecosystem where big pharma and biotech meet in a virtuous circle of capital and expertise. With over $1.3 trillion in cash on the balance sheets of large-cap pharmaceutical companies, the sector has the firepower needed to support consolidation, innovation, and reinvestment. Everything points to 2026 being the year of confirmation.

Next-generation therapies, from gene editing to RNA, are emerging from the pioneering phase to become industrial assets, while regulators and investors are finally moving in the same direction. With safer, more standardised platforms and new data on cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, 2026 promises to be a year of industrial validation for the entire sector.

Adding to this is a more favourable monetary cycle, with falling rates and capital ready to re-enter a sector that has lingered on the sidelines for too long. If 2025 was the transition, 2026 could be the year of leadership: the one in which biotechnology returns to the centre of the industrial agenda and global portfolios. Supporting this evolution are not fads, but structural forces. Population ageing, with the resulting increase in healthcare spending and the spread of chronic diseases, fuels constant demand for innovation, while artificial intelligence, computational chemistry, and digital biology are drastically reducing development times and costs. The result is a more efficient industry, capable of combining scientific impact with value creation.

 Every major productivity revolution, from steam to silicon to sequencing, has redefined the boundaries of the economy. Today, biotech stands at the centre of the next one: that of life itself. The biotech renaissance is not a bet on hope, but on the inevitable: science works, demand is real, and capital is returning. For those who can look beyond short-term volatility, the opportunity is structural—a unique convergence of technology, need, and financial discipline. If the past few years have not delivered the desired returns, the coming ones will be the testing ground for leadership.

At J. Lamarck, we see this convergence of scientific progress, disciplined capital, and long-term vision every day. From here to 2030, the real question will not be whether biotech deserves a place in portfolios, but whether investors can afford to do without it.