IBT portfolio manager says KalVista deal signals Biotech 2.0 growth

International Biotechnology Trust (LSE:IBT) portfolio manager Ailsa Craig tells Proactive's Stephen Gunnion that M&A activity in biotech is running hot, with the proposed KalVista Pharmaceuticals acquisition by Chiesi Farmaceutici the latest in a string of deals — and 15% of IBT's portfolio has now been acquired year-to-date at an average premium of 50%. Craig explains the structural driver: big pharma is cash-rich but facing hundreds of billions in revenues lost to patent expiries, forcing them to acquire innovation. With biotech firms accounting for 70% of new drug approvals last year, the sector is firmly in the crosshairs. KalVista is held up as a textbook example of what Craig calls "Biotech 2.0" — clinically de-risked companies addressing real unmet needs. Its oral HAE treatment replaced injectable therapies, and Craig puts it simply: when patients feel an attack coming on, they now just take a tablet. IBT recycles proceeds from exits straight back into new opportunities, ...