2014 a memorable year for M&A activity in pharma sector

2014 was a busy year for merger and acquisition activity in the pharmaceutical industry, but will be remembered particularly for the mega billion dollar deals that were abandoned.

In total, 2014 saw the announcement (and mostly completion) of 137 M&A transactions, compared with 122 in 2013 and 131 in 2012, as tracked by The Pharma Letter. Values were also considerably higher. The Financial Times reported that more than $250 billion of deals have been struck in 2014 by pharma companies.

According to a Burrill Media report released last week, companies' completed a record $355.3 billion in transactions in 2014, up from $131.9 billion in 2013 and surpassing the previous record of $235.5 billion.