US-China tensions, the increasing importance of Singapore as a doorway to the Asia-Pacific region, growing AI innovation in South Korea and a changing clinical trials landscape in Japan are just some of the recent developments in APAC. 

Eli Lilly, striving to outpace Novo Nordisk, dominated the dealmaking scene in 2023 by executing six acquisitions. Although Pfizer, BMS and AbbVie sealed the largest M&A deals of the year, they did not lead in terms of volume.

Not content with fulfilling its decade-long $45bn sales target, AstraZeneca is now preparing for Act 2: a new 10-year 'cycle of growth'.

The last quarter of 2023 was an exciting one for the cell and gene therapy sector – with the first-ever approval for a CRISPR-based therapeutic in the US and an increase in Phase III trials in the overall CGT pipeline.