Pharma M&A activity primed for another high-flying year in 2024

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Despite challenging interest rates and regulatory environment, pharma M&A activity surged in 2023 with deal volume up more than 30% from the prior year based on a review of more than 200 acquisitions since 2018. The total disclosed deal value in 2023 also more than doubled the prior year’s tally to surpass $100 billion. While the pandemic boosted research into areas such as mRNA, it had something of a chilling effect on M&A. As pharma companies begin to put the pandemic in the rearview mirror, M&A activity has gained momentum. 

Analysts upbeat on biopharma M&A activity in 2024

According to PwC, the M&A activity in the pharmaceutical and life sciences sector could continue humming in 2024. Despite a challenging interest rate environment, PwC projects the sector to see deal values ranging from $225 billion to $275 billion. Deal volume in 2023 was in line with pre-pandemic levels. …

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Medical imaging AI startup Flywheel wins Series D round backed by NVIDIA, Microsoft and HPE

[Image courtesy of Flywheel]

Minneapolis-based Flywheel has received $54 million in a Series D round backed by NVIDIA, Microsoft, Hewlett Packard Enterprise and other strategic investors.

Flywheel will invest the cash to fuel growth in core verticals, the pharmaceutical and public sector healthcare sectors. A notable Big Pharma customer is Genentech. The company also aims to ramp up expansion into emerging areas such as healthcare providers, payers, IT service providers and software vendors. Finally, Flywheel intends to extend its global footprint, especially in key markets in Europe.

Current challenges in medical AI

Medical imaging has long faced challenges with data complexity and a mosaic of metadata and formats, including DICOM (Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine) to JPG or TIFF and modalities spanning MRI, CT, PET and ultrasound. Despite some standardization, fragmented formats prevail fr…

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