MCOs Make Deals to Combat High Drug Costs

by | Jun 15, 2017 4:06 pm | Managed Care, Pharmaceuticals

The rising cost of prescription drugs was part of many candidates’ campaign platforms in the 2016 national elections. The topic has not gone away, and is certainly a factor in the dearth of Big Pharma deals in 2017.  Through June 15, M&A in the Pharma sector is down 43%, to 44 transactions, compared with the same period in 2016, which had 77 transactions. Spending is also down in for the first six months of 2017. Through June 15, acquirers announced $19.2 billion in committed financing, down 66% from the same period in 2016, when approximately $56.5 billion was spent. There are deals being done, regarding this issue, but most are not M&A. In fact, several managed care... Read More »

Pharma Deals Slid in Q1:17

by | May 15, 2017 8:55 pm | Pharmaceuticals

Deal making in the pharmaceutical sector slid further in the first quarter, down 12% to 29 deals, compared with the previous quarter, and down 28% compared with the same quarter a year ago. This quarter’s deal volume accounts for 20% of the 145 deals announced in the previous 12 months. President Trump has continued to malign this sector in social media tweets and in public speeches for the high price of some drugs, so it’s not surprising to see M&A slacking off, for the time being. Also, drug makers’ attention is directed toward their aging product pipelines, and most of the deal activity is going to acquire the rights to promising mid- and late-phase drug candidates. Source:... Read More »

Pharmaceutical Deals Celebrate the New Year

by | Jan 19, 2017 3:57 pm | Pharmaceuticals

The Pharmaceutical sector hasn’t wasted any time getting busy in the New Year. As of January 18, 2017, 10 pharma deals have been announced, with disclosed prices totaling $7.18 billion. Of course, the annual JP Morgan Healthcare Summit, held this year from January 9 to January 13, helped to boost the announcements. The largest deal so far was Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd.’s (OTCQB: TKPYY) $4.67 billion ($24.00 per share) takeover of ARIAD Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: ARIA). ARIAD is an oncology company that discovers, develops and commercializes drugs for patients with rare cancers. A large motivator for the deal was to gain access to Iclusig® (ponatinib), a globally commercialized... Read More »