Amazon Scoops Up PillPack for $1 Billion

Amazon Scoops Up PillPack for $1 Billion

Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) finally took the plunge into the pharmaceutical market with its approximately $1 billion acquisition of five-year-old PillPack, an online pharmacy startup based in Manchester, New Hampshire. Financial terms weren’t disclosed in the deal’s announcement, but on June 28, the day of the announcement, The Wall Street Journal quoted sources on the price. In April 2018, Walmart (NYSE: WMT) was reported to be in discussions with PillPack, and targeting a price under $1 billion, according to CNBC. Amazon was also said to be holding  discussions with the company at the time. PillPack is an online pharmacy that delivers medications in pre-sorted dose packaging and... Read More »

Takeda Takes on Shire for $81.5 Billion

Big Pharma deals are back, more than ever. After six weeks of offers, refusals, talks and more, Japanese drug giant Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited (OTCQB: TKPYY) reached an agreement to acquire Shire plc (NASDAQ: SHPG) for $81.5 billion, including assumed debt of $19.54 billion. It’s the largest healthcare deal announced ever, unless you count Pfizer’s (NYSE: PFE) hostile stalking of AstraZeneca (NYSE: AZN) through much of 2014, with bids reported to be around $118 billion. And we don’t. Looking back over past pharmaceutical deals (that closed), this takes the record from Pfizer, which announced its acquisition of Wyeth, Inc. for approximately $78.5 billion, including $10.5 billion... Read More »
For a Short Month, February Was Long on Deal Volume

For a Short Month, February Was Long on Deal Volume

Ever wonder why February is the shortest month of the year? It didn’t even exist on the old Roman calendar, when there were only 10 months in a year. Later, the calendar was revised to include 12 lunar cycles totaling 355 days and January and February were added, with February as the last month of the year. In Julius Caesar’s day, the calendar was changed yet again to align with the solar cycle, which amounted to 365 days. And because a complete revolution of the Earth around the sun is actually 365-and-one-quarter days, an extra day is tacked onto the end of every fourth year, which we call a Leap Year. You remembered that from third grade, of course. All that brings us to why comparing... Read More »
Biotechnology Gets the Usual January Boost

Biotechnology Gets the Usual January Boost

The Biotechnology sector roared to life in 2017, posting a record 209 transactions. That’s 20% higher than the 174 deals announced in 2016. The previous record for the sector was set in 2009, with 193 transactions announced in the space. Spending for those 209 deals in 2017 didn’t set new records, but did post an impressive $54.5 billion in disclosed prices. That’s 283% higher than the $18.6 billion recorded in all of 2016, but not close to the secctor’s annual spending record of $93.9 billion, set in 2008. Every January, the Biotechnology Showcase is held in San Francisco, concurrent with the J.P. Morgan Healthcare conference. And every January, this sector sees... Read More »
Pharmaceutical Deals Took a Dive in 2017

Pharmaceutical Deals Took a Dive in 2017

On the eve of the 36th annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference, it’s only fitting to take a look at where pharmaceutical deals ended up at the end of 2017. Suffice to say, at a record low deal volume. Preliminary data show just 96 transactions for pharmaceutical targets were announced last year, the first time pharma deals have notched a two-digit deal volume since 2001 (87 deals then). That marks a 38% decline from 2016’s 156 transactions, and a 49% drop from the most recent high-mark of 188 deals announced in 2014. Spending was also anemic, with just $28.1 billion committed to finance those deals. That’s 67% below last year’s $84.8 billion, and 87% lower than the... Read More »