The volume of biopharmaceutical deals have steadily declined each quarter this year, with only 200 recorded in the third quarter, a 23 percent fall over the second-quarter deal total and a 28 percent drop over the first-quarter number. However, in terms of value, third-quarter deals represented a total value of $21.7 billion, in line with the first quarter, and double that generated in the second quarter. (See Biopharma Deals: 2017, page 2.)