Market pauses, but biotechs head into 3Q21 relaxed and flush with cash

Biotech has finally hit a pause in the market after a 15-month ride on a rocket ship. But companies may hardly notice as that ride has left the sector flush with capital. The majority of pre-profit public companies have at least two years’ worth of cash on their balance sheets, suggesting the pressure to raise money is low.

For the first time since March 2020, the pace of activity on both the development and financing sides has begun to abate. The summer’s largest catalysts — Phase III depression data from Sage Therapeutics Inc., AAT data from Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:VRTX) and the ultimate binary event, FDA’s decision to approve Aduhelm aducanumab from Biogen Inc. (NASDAQ:BIIB), have all come and gone, leaving investors expecting the slowdown in the markets to continue until early September...