来源：《经济学人》
原文刊登日期：2022年8月7日
Three years ago no one had heard of BioNTech. Today the German biotechnology firm enjoys global fame, as well as annual revenues of $19bn. The company owes both the lustre and the lucre chiefly to the successful mRNA covid-19 vaccine which it developed in partnership with Pfizer, an American drug giant. Yet even the effective jab has not immunised it from a downturn afflicting the biotech industry. On August 8th BioNTech reported that sales fell by 40% in the second quarter, year on year, as fewer people are left unjabbed and unboosted. Its share price tumbled by nearly 9%.
三年前，没有人听说过BioNTech。如今，这家德国生物技术公司享有全球声誉，年收入达190亿美元。该公司之所以能有这样的光彩和财富，主要归功于它与美国制药巨头辉瑞公司合作成功开发了新冠肺炎mRNA疫苗。然而，即使是有效的预防接种也未能使其免受生物技术行业低迷的影响。8月8日，BioNTech报告说，第二季度的销售额同比下降了40%，因为没有接种疫苗和没有打加强针的人减少了。其股价暴跌近9%。
The biotech industry is particularly vulnerable to the syndrome of slowing economic growth, higher inflation and rising interest rates. As with other tech startups, rate rises make promised profits, most of which lie far in the future, look less hale today. Unlike software firms, biotech companies need constant injections of capital to develop their drugs, which takes lots of time and money.
生物技术行业尤其容易受到经济增长放缓、通胀上升和利率上升的影响。与其他科技初创公司一样，加息造成承诺的利润(其中大部分是在遥远的未来)如今看起来不那么强劲了。与软件公司不同，生物技术公司需要不断注入资金来开发药物，这需要大量的时间和金钱。
Until recently that money was easy to tap. Biotech startups raised $34bn globally last year, twice the figure in 2020. In the first six months of 2021, 61 such firms launched initial public offerings (IPOs) in America alone. Since then cash has grown scarcer. The first half of 2022 saw just 14 American IPOs. None of the 24 startups that Silicon Valley Bank, a lender to techie companies, expected to go public this year has made the jump. Funding for private biotech businesses is down, too. Banks are reluctant to lend to early-stage firms, whose fate is tied to treatments that might never materialise.
直到最近，投资者的资金都很容易获得。去年，生物科技初创公司在全球融资340亿美元，是2020年的两倍。在2021年的前六个月，仅在美国就有61家这样的公司进行了首次公开募股(IPO)。从那时起，现金变得越来越稀缺。2022年上半年，只有14家生物科技公司在美国进行了IPO。为科技公司提供贷款的硅谷银行预计在今年上市的24家初创公司中，没有一家上市成功。非上市生物技术企业的资金也在减少。银行不愿向处于早期阶段的公司提供贷款，因为这些公司的命运取决于可能永远无法实现的治疗方案。
Many companies are shedding staff. This week Atara and MacroGenics, two medium-sized public firms, announced big layoffs. An index of biotech companies listed on New York’s Nasdaq exchange has fallen by a quarter since its peak a year ago, further than the sliding nasdaq index overall. Valuations of unlisted companies are dropping faster than ever. Not all will pull through.
许多公司都在裁员。本周，两家中型上市公司Atara和MacroGenics宣布大规模裁员。在纽约纳斯达克交易所上市的生物科技公司指数自一年前达到峰值以来已经下跌了四分之一，跌幅超过了纳斯达克指数的整体跌幅。非上市公司的估值正以前所未有的速度下降。并非所有生物科技企业都能渡过难关。
As non-specialist investors swept up in the pandemic biotech boom retreat, more discerning ones are sharpening their pencils. Some companies suddenly look cheap, especially those with proven treatments or drugs in late-stage trials. Venture-capital firms have raised over $100bn to invest in life-sciences businesses in the past three years.
随着被大流行生物技术热潮席卷的非专业投资者的撤退，更有眼光的投资者正在着手物色好的投资标的。一些公司突然看起来很便宜，尤其是那些治疗方法已被证实或药物处于后期试验阶段的公司。在过去的三年里，风险投资公司已经筹集了超过1000亿美元用于投资生命科学行业。
Big pharma in particular may be eyeing up biotech startups with promising drug pipelines. The giants will see some $300bn-worth of patents expire by 2030. Pfizer has been particularly acquisitive—and, thanks to the $37bn it earned last year from sales of its covid vaccines and treatments, particularly flush. On August 8th it agreed to pay $5.4bn for Global Blood Therapeutics, bringing its total takeovers to more than $25bn in the past 12 months.
大型制药公司可能会盯上那些有前途的生物技术初创公司。到2030年，这些巨头将有约3000亿美元的专利到期。辉瑞公司尤其热衷于收购——得益于去年新冠疫苗和治疗药物销售收入370亿美元，因此，辉瑞公司的资金尤其充裕。8月8日，该公司同意斥资54亿美元收购全球血液治疗公司，使其在过去12个月的收购总额超过250亿美元。
As for Pfizer’s covid-vaccine partner, BioNTech, it is still worth five times what it was before the pandemic, despite a 50% crash in its market capitalisation since the peak a year ago.
至于辉瑞的新冠疫苗合作伙伴BioNTech，尽管其市值自一年前的峰值下跌了50%，但其价值仍然是大流行前的五倍。