Expected return on investment for pharma firms jumped sharply to 7% in 2021, driven largely by COVID-19 R&D but even when the pandemic's impact was stripped out, there was an increase in core R&D productivity compared with 2020, a new report from Deloitte has found. The average cost of developing a drug also declined from 2020 to 2021.

The R&D productivity of the top 30 largest biopharma companies decreased slightly from 2021 to 2022 and the sector saw the lowest number of FDA approvals in the past 10 years. 

Companies such as Novartis, Roche or Takeda are heavily invested in the advanced therapeutics field, usually spreading their bets across multiple modalities. The remaining challenges offer opportunities for the next wave of innovation to transform the field once again and make a dent in the larger market of common diseases and solid tumors.