Derived from Strategic Transactions, Informa’s premium source for tracking life sciences deal activity, the Dealmaking column is a survey of recent health care transactions listed by relevant industry segment – In Vitro Diagnostics, Medical Devices, and Pharmaceuticals – and then categorized by type – Acquisition, Alliance, or Financing. This month’s column covers deals announced February 2020.

Device financing during 2019’s final quarter totaled $1.6bn, a substantial decrease from Q3’s $4.05bn. Merger and acquisition activity, almost doubled from the previous quarter reaching $6.1bn; Stryker’s 4.7bn takeover of Wright Medical was the only billion-dollar transaction. Financings by diagnostics/research players totaled $1.3bn (the lowest quarter of the year) and eight companies were acquired, five of which together were valued at $981m.

Nurix and Sanofi signed a $2.55bn deal using DELigase DNA-encoded libraries to targeted protein degradation therapies for the three targets. Lilly enhanced its immunology pipeline with the $1.1bn takeover of Dermina and its atopic dermatitis antibody lebrikizumab. Biopharma financing was slightly up, while device funding somewhat decreased.

Merck and Bristol-Myers Squibb's market-dominating checkpoint inhibitors are competing to find the next combination therapy to treat more cancer patients, in more types of cancers. Recent failures and new regulatory pressure, however, may have a cooling effect, even as researchers come full circle with PD-l/PD-L1 and CTL-4 combinations. The race is also on to pull new combinations from emerging cell therapy and precision oncology drug candidates.

The biopharma sector is often accused of a being a slow-moving engine, but a look back over the last 20 years reveals that a lot has changed. In Vivo explores the history of high-impact M&A transactions in the industry between 1999 and 2019. 

The consensus among investors is that medtech has been the best-performing part of health care for the past three to four years, and investment levels remain good. Seemingly all-encompassing of late has been companies’ preoccupation with digital strategies, but there is a lot more to this unique industry than just digital.