Pharmaceutical mergers & acquisitions: how to raise risk awareness before a deal

摘要

Following two years of volatility, 2018 saw a boost in pharmaceutical mergers and acquisitions, in particular due to the acquisition of Dublin-based Shire by the Japanese pharmaceutical company Takeda, at a value of $81.7 billion (1). With a combined value of i $48.6 billion, US deals accounted for the second largest share of deal value in 2018 while non-US transactions made up the majority, principally due to the Takeda/Shire deal. In total, there were 248 pharmaceutical and life science deals in 2018, and M&A activity is expected to continue to grow in 2019, driven mainly by acquisitions, partnerships or joint ventures, and divestitures (2). Though this is positive for the progress of the industry, enabling companies to make strategic changes and develop innovative products, consolidations and divestitures can be risky and challenging. In this article, Jennifer Lopez, Director, Solutions Delivery at leading life sciences consultancy, Maetrics, explains how to strengthen awareness of risk before signing on the dotted line.