Biopharma dealmaking confidence is strengthening, a new survey has revealed, but access to capital remains the defining challenge. 

BIO-Europe’s Biopharma C-Suite Agenda Survey 2026 surveyed 81 senior biopharma executives, including 50 CEOs. 

The survey results demonstrate that 75% expect partnering and M&A appetite to increase over the next 12 months, with none expecting a decline.  

A total of 51% of respondents said raising growth capital is the most likely near-term activity, ahead of strategic partnering or licensing at 27%, yet 79% identify investor risk aversion as the factor most constraining biotech investment today. 

Claire Macht, Senior Portfolio Director at Informa Connect, said: “What emerges is not a simple story of recovery or retrenchment. There is clearly renewed appetite to partner and do deals, but capital availability and investor risk tolerance are still dictating what companies can actually execute. At the same time, leaders are reassessing where innovation will come from and how Europe competes in a global landscape increasingly shaped by US policy uncertainty and China’s accelerating pace of innovation.” 

The tension is also reflected in comments from participating executives. When asked what concerns him most, Nisit Khandelwal, CEO of Cycuria Therapeutics, said: “The gap in early-stage innovation funding. Deal-making and investment volume are consolidated and skewed toward near-market-ready assets – but we all have to wake up to this: the investment we make in early pipeline today is the mid-stage pharma pipeline we’ll be scrambling for tomorrow.” 

US and China continue to dominate 

Of the respondents, 52% said US policy and regulatory uncertainty has made Europe more attractive as a place to build and partner. However, Europe still scores only 2.8/5 as a partnering and dealmaking hub and the US and China remain the leading expected sources of future partnerships. 

The survey highlighted that oncology and ADCs lead expected partnering and investment interest for 2026-27, followed by immunology and inflammation, cardiometabolic disease beyond GLP-1 and neuroscience. Healthy ageing, mental health and women’s health were seen as the leading underinvested commercial opportunities. 

In terms of AI, 57% expect it to improve R&D productivity and 33% expect faster clinical development over the next 12-24 months, while 22% say AI’s impact is currently overstated.