Device financing totaled $1.4bn during the first quarter of 2020. Merger and acquisition activity reached $714.5m, with only two transactions hitting the six-figure mark. Financings by diagnostics/research players totaled $985m and just six companies were acquired, four of which together were valued at $11.6bn, most coming from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s $11.5bn buy of fellow public life sciences company Qiagen NV.

This month’s column covers deals announced in May 2020. Data provided by Biomedtracker. 

COVID-19 has introduced new challenges (and more attorneys) into the biopharma deal-making environment, but experts say the fundamentals for deal activity point toward a rebound. Companies that adapt quickly to changes – in communication, due diligence and deal structure – will make successful connections in a time of social distancing.

Repare Therapeutics and Bristol Myers Squibb announced a multi-target discovery collaboration potentially worth over $3bn. Alexion Pharmaceuticals entered into a definitive agreement to acquire fellow public biotech Portola Pharmaceuticals $1.44bn. An increase in both follow-on public offerings and PIPE financings boosted biopharma financing significantly from last month.

During Q1, biopharmas brought in an aggregate $13.8bn in financing. M&A value reached $6.9bn, the majority from Gilead Sciences $4.9bn purchase of immuno-oncology firm Forty Seven. Alliances fetched $35bn in potential deal value, dominated by many Big Pharma tie-ups led by a $4bn discovery and development collaboration between AstraZeneca and Silence Therapeutics for siRNA therapeutics.

This month’s column covers deals announced between 1-23 April 2020.