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NEW YORK, Jan. 11, 2021 /PRNewswire/ Life sciences mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity totaled US$159b in 2020, down from US$306b in 2019, reaching one of the lowest levels since 2014, according to the 2021 EY
, launched today. A single megadeal – AstraZeneca s December purchase of Alexion Pharmaceuticals – accounted for a quarter of the annual life sciences M&A spend. Setting aside the challenges of doing diligence and closing deals virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic, persistently high valuations for biopharma and medtech targets kept many would-be buyers on the sidelines, in what was already expected to be a difficult year. In this unfavorable environment, biopharma acquirers refocused their energy on alliances and smaller, bolt-on deals in high-priority therapeutic areas. Medtechs experienced revenue slowdowns due to the cancellation or deferment of procedures in 2020.
10:00 – 11:00 am
2020 was a year like no other as the annual biopharma M&A total fell to the lowest level since EY began publishing its annual M&A Firepower report in 2013. In the first half of the year, the specter of COVID-19 deterred deals; as economies started to reopen, persistently high valuations were another reason many buyers remained on the fence. In the midst of such uncertainty, an innovation narrative emerged, with growing evidence of the power of new technologies, from antibody drug conjugates in oncology to RNA-based vaccines. These new innovations sparked many of 2020’s most notable deals and are sure to be important in the future. In this one hour panel discussion, we will discuss the current state of biopharma dealmaking and its implications for 2021 with M&A leaders from across the industry.