2022 turns out to be another unspectacular year for pharma and biotech M&A

By Barbara Obstoj-Cardwell. Editor

During the whole of 2022, merger and acquisition (M&A) activity in the pharma and biotech sector showed a slight improvement on 2021, when it fell to a decade low of just 92 deals, with a total number of 109 (See table below). Discounting those deals where the value was not disclosed, the number of M&A deals topping a billion dollars in value was a modest 17, while in 2021 there were still 28 exceeding that benchmark.

This low level came against a background of several big pharma companies flush with cash leading into the year, thanks to their top-selling COVID-19 products, innovative branded medications and high-value divestitures, but with much of big pharma facing competition from generics or biosimilars for their best sellers.