Conventional wisdom holds that rising interest rates curb M&A activity, but an analysis of the pharma and biotech M&A data from 2018 to early October 2023 reveals a counterintuitive trend — at least over the short term. As interest rates have risen in 2023, pharma deal-making has remained strong although the deal size has dipped.…
An overview of the GLP-1 landscape in obesity therapeutics
The GLP-1 drug market continues to boom lately thanks to highly effective new medications like Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy and continued demand for the drug class in diabetes. The runaway success of Wegovy and Ozempic (both formulations of semaglutide) has caused Novo Nordisk’s share price to skyrocket in 2023, briefly making the Danish pharmaceutical company the most…
Illumina’s record EU fine could drive smaller M&A pharma deals
Illumina, the world’s largest gene sequencing company, faces a record fine from the E.U. for acquiring startup Grail without approval. The $8 billion deal closed in August 2021 despite ongoing EU. and U.S. investigations. A year later, the EU prohibited the merger, citing reduced innovation and choice. The expected $453 million fine, which would be…