Burst of M&A activity in pharma during 2009 led by mega-deals from Pfizer/Wyeth and Merck & Co/S-P

Following 2008, when pharmaceutical sector merger and acquisition activity was on a relatively small scale in terms of the size of deals announced, 2009 was a bumper year, with drugmakers facing declining R&D productivity, anticipating patent losses and drug pricing pressures and, thus, looking for ways to support their bottom lines.

According to The Pharma Letter's records, there were 92 pharmaceutical acquisitions consummated during 2009 (with several others announced but failing), compared with 113 the previous year. Of the 2009 announcements, 16 deals exceeded a value of $1 billion. The full list can be seen in the attached table.

2009 was also a year when ever more mega-sized agreements were signed to acquire rights to developmental compounds with several involving total payments, depending on achieving milestones, of over $1 billion.