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Biopharma deal-making in 2016

Nature Reviews Drug Discovery volume 16, pages 161–162 (2017)Cite this article

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Total M&A value in 2016 amounted to US$105 billion, according to Informa's Medtrack and Strategic Transactions. The industries included in the value broadly cover biopharma, as well as consumer and over-the-counter (OTC) drugs, drug delivery technologies, contract research and manufacturing and clinical trial services, but exclude devices, diagnostics, research tools, insurance and animal health. This was 43% less than the 2015 value of $183 billion (the original 2015 figure of $343 billion had included Allergan's $160 billion acquisition by Pfizer, which cancelled the transaction after changes to the US Treasury tax laws regarding inversion deals).

Shire–Baxalta ended up being the largest pharma acquisition of the entire year, with two rare-disease powerhouses joining forces. Many of the top M&A deals were driven by the acquirer's entry into new therapy areas, or expansion of their strongholds in areas where their portfolios are at risk of generic competition (Table 1; Supplementary information S1 (figure)). For example, Pfizer gained a blockbuster oncology drug, enzalutamide (Xtandi), when it bought Medivation. Oncology was also the target of several of the other top 10 2016 acquisitions, including AbbVie–Stemcentrx and Jazz Pharmaceuticals–Celator Pharmaceuticals. Non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) is an indication that has piqued business development interest in the past couple of years. Two of the largest takeovers of 2016 involved NASH targets: Nimbus (which Gilead bought for $1.2 billion) and Tobira Therapeutics (acquired by Allergan for $1.7 billion).

Table 1 Top 10 mergers and acquisitions of 2016
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Figure 1: Biopharma deal-making in 2016.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Informa, 52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, 10017, New York, USA

    Amanda Micklus & Steven Muntner

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  1. Amanda Micklus
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  2. Steven Muntner
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Correspondence to Amanda Micklus.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

Supplementary information

Supplementary information S1 (figure)

Distribution of the 16 M&A deals in 2016 worth ≥ US $1 billion by focus. (PDF 186 kb)

Supplementary information S2 (figure)

Partnership deal activity in 2016 by phase of development. (PDF 129 kb)

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Micklus, A., Muntner, S. Biopharma deal-making in 2016. Nat Rev Drug Discov 16, 161–162 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrd.2017.15

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