In Vivo's Top M&A Of 2019: Cast Your Vote!

It is time for In Vivo's 12th annual Deals of the Year contest. We've selected 15 nominees in three categories – Top Alliance, Top Financing and Top M&A – and you get to pick the winners.

In Vivo's editors, along with experts from the Informa Pharma Intelligence team, have selected our top five picks for the most significant M&A deals of 2019. Vote for your winner in the poll.

 

1. Roche/Spark

After a lengthy 10-month review the Federal Trade Commission cleared Roche's $4.8bn acquisition of Spark Therapeutics Inc. after the stock market closed on December 10, 2019. Roche had announced the proposed merger in February, agreeing to pay $4.8bn to get hold of Spark’s already approved gene therapy Luxturna, which is on the market as a treatment for inherited blindness. Roche has also acquired a pipeline that contains a couple of potential hemophilia A treatments that will boost the Swiss major's presence in the rare blood disease space. Spark was the first company to receive FDA approval for a gene therapy for a genetic disease in Dec. 2017, when Luxturna (voretigene neparvovec) got the nod as a one-time treatment for the rare eye disease biallelic RPE65 mutation-associated retinal dystrophy. It is currently marketed in the US by Spark, launched with a price tag of $850,000, and by Roche rival Novartis AG in Europe where it was granted marketing authorization in November 2018.

 

2. AbbVie/Allergan

AbbVie Inc.'s quest to reduce its reliance on Humira (adalimumab) led the company to Allergan PLC's doorstep in 2019. AbbVie announced an agreement to acquire Allergan for approximately $63bn on June 25 in a mega-deal that moved AbbVie into medical aesthetics and established the merged company as a leading pharmaceutical manufacturer with $48bn in combined revenues, putting it in the top echelon of big pharma with the likes of Pfizer Inc., Novartis AG and Roche.

 

3. Bristol-Myers-Squibb/Celgene

In November 2019, Bristol-Myers Squibb closed its purchase of Celgene Corp. for nearly $76bn in cash and stocks. The transaction, which initially was valued at $74bn, ended up giving Celgene shareholders an almost $2bn additional return on their investment, thanks to Bristol’s recently rising stock price. The buyer gave Celgene investors $50 in cash and one share of Bristol stock for each share of Celgene that they owned. However, the acquisition is just the beginning of a long-term investment in a large pipeline of hematology, oncology, inflammation and immunology drugs. SC141223

 

4. 3M/Acelity

In May 2019, industrial conglomerate 3M Co. agreed to pay $6.7bn for Acelity LP Inc. and its KCI subsidiaries in an ambitious move to expand its presence in the wound-care market. San Antonio, TX-based Acelity, a maker of advanced wound-care products, generated $1.5bn in revenue in 2018, with about 75% of sales in the Americas. According to 3M, the advanced wound-care market is currently worth $8bn and growing at mid-single digits, driven by rising rates of chronic health conditions such as obesity, diabetes and an aging population.

 

 

5. Sumitomo Dainippon/Five Roivant Sciences Divisions

In November, Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma Co. Ltd. (SDP) and Roivant Sciences Inc. finalized and fleshed out their $3bn deal, under which the Japanese firm will acquire stakes in up to 11 "vant" companies. On a strategic level, the transaction will provide SDP with much-needed late-stage candidates to tide it over its immediate post-Latuda (lurasidone) period, following the expected loss of US exclusivity for the atypical antipsychotic in early 2023. The alliance will also bring "an early stage pipeline, health technology platforms and talent for sustained growth and transformation," SDP president and CEO Hiroshi Nomura said during a November 1 investors' briefing. Roivant will now set up an as yet unnamed new 100% owned company, to which it will transfer its interests in the first five subsidiaries. This new entity will then be fully acquired by SDP.