After dropping markedly for two consecutive years, both the number of acquisitions in medical devices and the total dollar volume of those deals jumped significantly in 2003, reaching 71 and $9.17 billion, respectively. And if the dollar volumes and number of deals in 2003 weren't good news enough, an analysis of some of the trends behind the deal-making should give device executives even more cause to be happy. Thus, while a significant number of the total deals do fall within only two clinical categories, cardiovascular and orthopedics, the larger picture shows an M&A climate that is quite diversified. Similarly, the perception that deal-making is concentrated in the hands of a small group of large companies isn't borne out by the data. That said, new technology trends, most notably the convergence of drugs and devices, and new deal structures suggest, at least anecdotally, that device M&A may be changing.

Despite AI and digital analytics playing an increasing role in pharma, the industry lags others globally, a recent event heard. Meanwhile, top Indian players including Sun Pharma, Cipla and others shared what is driving their initiatives, ranging from a 'touchless factory' to virtual training and lessons learned along the way.

Hologic made its third big acquisition of 2021 and Agilent agreed to pay up to $695m for Resolution Bioscience to extend its precision oncology capabilities.