M&A Archives - Medical Design Sourcing

Are Big Pharma giants getting the right ROI on their R&D investments? A visual exploration

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While annual reports show broadly similar R&D strategies among Merck & Co., Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson and AbbVie, their 2020–2023 financial metrics reveal a concerning trend. Merck & Co. may be the new top dog of Big Pharma, but the firm’s 1.4% revenue growth in 2023 represents a significant slowdown. Pfizer’s 41.7% revenue decline from its COVID-inflated $100.3 billion peak in 2022 is even more stark. Similarly, J&J’s modest 4.2% growth and AbbVie’s 6.4% revenue dip also signal a departure from previous patterns.

In raw numbers, R&D spending in the pharmaceutical industry has surged over the past few decades, jumping from about $30 billion across the industry to more than $200 billion annually by the 2020s. Despite record-breaking R&D spending hitting $161 billion in 2023, marking a nearly 50% increase since 2018, as IQVIA has noted, …

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. …

Pharma M&A trends in Q2 2023: Strategic acquisitions rise as deal-making cools

Visual representation of recent M&A trends in the pharma sector.

The pharma industry in 2023 has been marked by an uptick of M&A activity. The year began with a relative frenzy of massive mergers. Pfizer’s $43 billion acquisition of Seagen and Amgen’s $27.8 billion purchase of Horizon Therapeutics earlier in the year were notable examples. But that initial spike of billion-dollar megamergers significantly cooled in the second quarter.

Looking at the M&A activity in pharma in Q2 2023, the deal size of transactions in Q2 2023 were notably smaller, too. Check out the scatter plot below. The largest M&A transaction in the second quarter of the year was Novartis’s $3.2 billion acquisition of Chinook Therapeutics. This trend indicates that companies are prioritizing smaller, more strategic acquisitions to diversify their portfolios.

Deals could pick up in the second half of…

Why cyberattacks targeting pharma are ramping up

Cyberattacks targeting the pharma industry have ramped up during the pandemic, and insider threats and nation-state attacks are on the rise. Meanwhile, the average cost of a pharma breach in 2021 is $5.04 million, according to the IBM-sponsored Ponemon Institute’s Cost of a Data Breach Report. For context, an average data breach incurs damages of $4.24 million.

Pharmaceutical companies are beginning to allocate more resources to cybersecurity, according to Howard Ting, CEO of data detection and response business Cyberhaven (Palo Alto, Calif.).

Pharma companies’ data is increasingly decentralized

The traditional model for protecting sensitive data was to create the networking equivalent to a castle and moat. But in the pharmaceutical industry and elsewhere, sensitive data can no longer be stored under lock and key. Pharmaceutical companies’ data must “move and be shared,” Ting said. For example, a contract manufacturer might need access to sensitive data. …