In the reports of many investment and auditing companies for 2025, one sector is often mentioned in a negative context, and that is precisely the biotechnology sector. Unfortunately, not because of the lack of spectacular discoveries, but because of the alarming investment data. Nearly 50% of biotech companies could close their doors by the end of the year, according to data from Ernst & Young. In 2024 alone, more than 15,000 jobs disappeared from the sector, and total funding fell by 10%. The number of investments in early-stage research projects is also declining, by a worrying 20% less than a year earlier. The big checks go into the hands of the more experienced teams, and everyone else is fighting for survival. In the end of this scenario, all of us, that is, the patients who will feel it with the number of therapies in the future, will fare the worst.
In the reports of many investment and auditing companies for 2025, one sector is often mentioned in a negative context, and that is precisely the biotechnology sector. Unfortunately, not because of the lack of spectacular discoveries, but because of the alarming investment data. Nearly 50% of biotech companies could close their doors by the end of the year, according to data from Ernst & Young. In 2024 alone, more than 15,000 jobs disappeared from the sector, and total funding fell by 10%. The number of investments in early-stage research projects is also declining, by a worrying 20% less than a year earlier. The big checks go into the hands of the more experienced teams, and everyone else is fighting for survival. In the end of this scenario, all of us, that is, the patients who will feel it with the number of therapies in the future, will fare the worst.
Brutal selection in real-time
What was once called a “high-risk, high-potential” industry is increasingly turning into an elite club of those with access to capital. Investors are playing it safe and favoring projects related to obesity and well-known immunotherapy targets such as PD1 and VEGF. The rest of the market is left to fend for itself, with budgets halved and operating costs increasing. At the same time, big pharma giants are looking towards a wave of patent losses by 2030, which threatens more than $500 billion in revenue. But while they are preparing $180 billion for acquisitions, the question is whether there will be any companies that will have anything to offer, if early development is stifled today.
Innovation as a lifeline – Wasteless.bio and new saving models
Although many do not know, but the solution and help for small laboratories has already arrived, through innovative platforms that change business models. One such example is Wasteless.bio, a platform that allows scientists and laboratories to buy excess laboratory equipment at significantly lower prices. This business concept not only reduces costs, but also speeds up the equipment of laboratories at a time when every euro and every day of development makes a difference. Many users of the platform donate their surplus equipment precisely to help the wider community and all market participants who are struggling with budget cuts.
Biotechnology may not die out, but this period brings a profound transformation. The sectors that survive will be lean, focused and rely on smart collaborations and platforms that enable work with fewer resources. If we want the next scientific discovery not to remain in the shadows, we must stop financing only “safe bets” and start creating conditions for the distribution of knowledge, equipment and capital. Because just like in genetics, diversity is the key to survival.