RE:RE:RE:RE:RE:RE:Big pharma is set to keep signing bigger deals in 2024 Several factors fueled the revival of M&A activity in 2023. Pharma companies have exceptionally strong balance sheets and approximately US$1.37 Trillion of acquisition "firepower". They are taking a hard look at new technologies to build and expand their capabilities. Targets are increasingly seeking to do transactions at stabilizing values, which are premium valuation for late-stage clinical development companies with de-risked assets, such as with ONCY's pelareorep.
These factors have staying power, and many life sciences companies are publicly hunting for deals and seeking to shed noncore assets in their quest for value creation. This year promises an active market for M&A in the sector, according to a growing number of global life science consulting companies.
To prepare to play and win in this market, life sciences companies are being advised to do some soul-searching. For pharmaceutical companies, this means asking: What assets will build my pipeline and make me a leader in fast-growing segments like cell and gene therapy and biologics? Can my capabilities make the deal economics work? With the passing of the IRA in 2022 by the US government which grants newly approved and orphan drug biologicals 13 years of marketing exclusivity versus 9 years for small molecules, it has become even more evident that ONCY's drug platform in pelareorep can effectively meet the above asks for several Big Pharma companies, who are moving away from small molecules and into a diversified product pipeline of therapeutic biologics.