Biotechnology Deals in Q1 2016

by | May 17, 2016 8:00 am | Biotechnology

Biotechnology deal activity picked up in the first quarter of 2016, rising 43% versus the previous quarter, to 30 deals. The total is 24% of the 127 deals announced in the previous 12 months. Biotechnology targets range from large, publicly traded companies to small startups, or established lines of products to licenses or rights to technologies and drugs in various phases of development. Research collaborations are included, when an acquirer pays an upfront fee for the rights to a promising compound, and picks up the R&D, regulatory and commercialization costs. In the first quarter, 19 of the 30 transactions involved the purchase of an entire company, while seven involved the rights... Read More »

Behavioral Health Care M&A in Q1:16

by | May 12, 2016 9:01 pm | Behavioral Health Care

The HealthCare M&A Report First Quarter 2016 is about to be published, and here is a look at the Behavioral Health Care sector. As you can see, deal activity decreased in the first quarter, down 38% to eight transactions. The quarter’s total represented 21% of the 39 transactions announced in the past 12 months and virtually no increase over the previous quarter. Behavioral health care facilities and programs are largely community-based, and transactions are often conducted between private parties and thus, not reported publicly. Still, this category is seeing some consolidation from private equity firms as well as strategic buyers, who are building platforms across state and national... Read More »

Pharma M&A Is all about Options

by | May 11, 2016 8:42 am | Pharmaceuticals

The days of mega-mergers in the pharmaceutical sector aren’t necessarily over, but those deals will be fewer and farther between, going forward. Nearly 60 deals have been announced in 2016 through the middle of May, and just 17 have an entire company as the target. The largest, so far, is Shire’s (NASDAQ: SHPG) $32 billion takeover of Baxalta (NYSE: BXLT), announced in January. The rest are either collaborations on product candidates, rights or license deals for marketed products or clinical-stage candidates, even the rights to royalties. That’s Royalty Pharma’s $1.1 billion deal for the royalty interest in Xtandi, which is being sold by a co-owner, UCLA, where... Read More »

Reporter’s Notebook: PE Healthcare Investor Forum 2016

by | May 10, 2016 7:21 pm | Private Equity

The first-ever Private Equity Healthcare Investor Forum took place in New York City on April 27, 2016 at the Westin Times Square. We were invited to attend by the sponsor, Private Equity International. The conference was originally planned to span two days, but was cut down to a single, panel-crammed event a few weeks before. Attendance was spotty, and at times it seemed the bulk of the audience were all speakers. Don’t get us wrong, we’d go again, if invited. The most interesting panel, in our opinion, was moderated by Richard Zall, partner and chair of Proskauer’s Health Care Department. Titled “When healthcare meets private equity: analyzing investor trends and... Read More »