Another Record Falls in Q1:15

by | Apr 4, 2015 3:19 pm | Behavioral Health Care, Biotechnology, Home Health & Hospice, Hospitals, Laboratories, MRI & Dialysis, Long-Term Care, Managed Care, Medical Devices, Other Services, Pharmaceuticals, Physician Medical Groups, Rehabilitation

Now that the month is officially over, we can report our preliminary Q1:15 results—and it was another record breaker, at least for transactions. The 346 deals logged so far are 109% higher than the first quarter of 2014. You would think that the $104.7 billion in combined spending would set another record, but no. In Q1:09, we tracked $127.2 billion spent on 202 deals. That’s when Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) bought Wyeth for $68 billion.  Here’s the preliminary breakdown of Q1:15 — and remember, the spending is only for deals that disclosed prices. Read More »

March Healthcare M&A Madness

by | Mar 30, 2015 2:37 pm | Biotechnology, Pharmaceuticals

March isn’t quite over as we write this, and neither is the madness—which won’t stop us from posting the biggest deals of the month. As of Friday, March 27, $34.4 billion has been committed to finance about 105 transactions. Of course, $21 billion of that comes from the AbbVie (NYSE: ABBV) acquisition of Pharmacyclics (NASDAQ: PCYC). Next week, preliminary Q1:15 results! Read More »

Janssen Scoops Up XO1

by | Mar 23, 2015 8:31 pm | Biotechnology, Pharmaceuticals

No, XO1 is not a drug candidate, it’s the name of an asset-centric virtual biopharmaceutical company, XO1 Limited, a UK-based portfolio company of Index Ventures. Janssen Pharmaceuticals (NYSE: JNJ) paid an undisclosed price for the virtual company, which was founded solely to develop the anti-thrombin antibody ichorcumab, which basically acts as an anticoagulant but doesn’t cause bleeding, like previous blood thinners. XO1 and Index Ventures licensed the technology from Cambridge University Hospitals, where it was developed. Read More »

Year’s Biggest Billion-Dollar Deals Top $64 Billion

by | Mar 16, 2015 8:16 pm | Biotechnology, Pharmaceuticals

Already in 2015, we’ve recorded 11 billion-dollar-plus deals, for a total of $64.4 billion. Thanks to the $21 billion AbbVie (NYSE: ABBV) bid for Pharmacyclics (NASDAQ: PCYC), the biotechnology sector accounted for $27.5 billion of those big deals. Pharmaceuticals, with four billion-plus transactions, still ranks first, with combined spending of $30.45 billion.  Read More »

What U.S. Health Care Companies Are Buying Overseas

by | Mar 9, 2015 7:27 pm | Biotechnology, Pharmaceuticals

We’re hosting a webinar on March 12 called  Cross-Border M&A: Opportunities and Issues. As a run-up to it, here’s a peek at what U.S. health care companies have bought overseas in 2015, excluding the typical pharma/biotech rights and licensing deals. We’ve seen 13 acquisitions of foreign companies so far, better than the 10 recorded in the same period in 2014. In the first two months of this year, $2.3 billion has been committed to those transactions. See the chart below. Read More »

Kythera Biopharma Goes Bald

by | Mar 2, 2015 6:23 pm | Biotechnology, Pharmaceuticals

Kythera Biopharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: KYTH), a clinical stage biopharma with a penchant for novel prescription products for the aesthetic medical market, entered into separate license agreements with Actellion Pharmceuticals Ltd. and the University of Pennsylvania last month. Actelion is selling the rights to setipiprant, a clinical-stage oral antagonist to the prostaglandin D2 receptor. Under the agreement with UPenn, Kythera acquired exclusive worldwide rights to certain patents covering the use of PGD2 receptor antagonists to treat hair loss. Not a very sexy-sounding way to look sexier, but it just might work. Read More »