Despite the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, biopharma dealmaking values in the second quarter of 2020 increased by 22.4% since the first quarter, and M&A values – thanks to Abbvie Inc. completing in May its $63 billion buyout of Allergan plc – are at a four-year high. A total of 529 deals, including licensings, collaborations and joint ventures, reported during the second quarter had projected values of nearly $49 billion, a step up from the 471 deals and $40.8 billion value of the first quarter.
When BIO 2019 closed its doors in Philadelphia last June, none of the delegates of the industry’s largest event would have predicted that the next meeting, scheduled for San Diego, would be canceled and the event would be transformed into a virtual version. In just a few months, the COVID-19 pandemic has decimated our normal way of life and, until effective therapeutics and vaccines become available, how we conduct the business of biotechnology will remain radically different. This will be one of the many themes explored during BIO Digital Week that kicked off today.
Of the 160 biopharma deals tracked by BioWorld during the month of April, 36% are for collaborations focusing on the development of therapeutics and vaccines for COVID-19.
With nearly a quarter of the activity announced in March focused on COVID-19, the first quarter of 2020 appears to be on target to beat the deal and M&A values of two of the last three years, although it remains behind 2019. Despite the uncertainty of the coronavirus pandemic, let alone the upcoming U.S. presidential election, the industry has fared relatively well in terms of dealmaking so far this year, even as the markets have plummeted and partnering events have moved to a virtual format. In fact, deals should logically increase as the pandemic takes its toll on the economy, according to a biopharma executive who responded to a recent J.P. Morgan survey.
DUBLIN – Les Laboratoires Servier SAS has thrown its partner Symphogen A/S a lifeline by agreeing to a takeover deal in which the Danish firm will become Servier’s center of excellence for antibody development.
SAN DIEGO – At the Biocom 10th Annual Global Life Sciences Partnering Conference, panels of pharma executives highlighted what they're looking for to supplement their pipelines and offered advice that ran the gamut from company formation to the courting process to strategies for partnering pipeline drugs and platforms.
Last year’s robust deal-making environment, high-value M&As, increasing financings and a supportive public market has set the stage for continued med-tech enthusiasm among investors and partners in 2020.
Whether the dealmaking momentum of 2019 will continue into 2020 is at the mercy of several uncertainties, not the least of which is the outcome of a U.S. presidential election and continued debates over drug pricing and other legislative issues affecting the industry.
Throughout the year we have published the views of company executives, government regulators, industry analysts and scientists on a variety of topics and, in our popular annual feature, we include a selection of these that paints a picture of the significant events that shaped 2019. The major talking point was on the capital markets front where investors turned their backs on the biopharmaceutical sector for most of the year returned big time in the final quarter.
The number of biopharma deals and mergers and acquisitions completed are on a downward slide quarter-by-quarter, although when taken as a whole, the industry in 2019 has completed as many transactions and is hitting a higher deal value than the year before, while M&A values are up by 32%.
