Bristol aims to bring more drugs into the clinic as fast as possible without compromising on quality, with many novel molecules emerging from its productive protein degradation and cell therapy platforms.

User fee goal dates in the second half of 2023 suggest cancer and breakthrough therapy approvals should recover from first-half dips and a resumption of inspections in China could revive COVID-delayed products.

The rate of growth of the pharma pipeline slowed last year as oncology and rare diseases tightened their grip on R&D. There are also further signs of China’s rise in importance in the industry.

Many of the same factors that held down large M&A transactions in 2021 carried over to 2022, which saw eight buyouts valued at $2bn+, headlined by Amgen’s $27.8bn purchase of Horizon.