The top 10 biopharma M&A deals of 2022 For those that are not familiar with market valuations ...
Jan 30, 2023
Heading into 2022, top drugmakers had $1.7 trillion in dealmaking firepower, fueling expectations that the industry was due for a gangbuster year of M&A activity. Well, that didn’t quite pan out.
Instead, the 10 largest biopharma M&A deals in 2022 totaled around $65 billion. While that was an increase from $53 billion in 2021, it was a notable downturn from prior years.
In 2020, for instance, the 10 largest biopharma M&A deals totaled $97 billion in value. Before that, in 2019, the industry’s 10 largest deals came in at more than $200 billion.
While deal values—and volumes—may have disappointed some in 2022, PwC analysts see some reasons for a potential rebound. For 2023, the team said it expects an “active year” thanks to “ample” corporate cash, the need to fill pipeline gaps at Big Pharmas and “resetting” biotech valuations. Deals in the $5 billion to $15 billion range represent the “sweet spot,” according to the experts, but larger acquisitions could come later in the year.