Big Pharma Eyes Biotech M&A Surge Amid 2024 Policy Headwinds

Emerging Biopharma Deals Attract Analysts’ Interest in the Return of M&A

Image Credits: Biopharma Dive

Impact of Acquisitions and Deals

The massive deals have generated analyst interest and support for activities in the second half of 2024, as the first half represents the cumulative total of all 2024 deals. The executives of big pharma companies have shown interest in deals, but their companies are being affected by Trump's policies and tariffs on drug pricing. Sanofi is known for its second-largest acquisition, with a $9.5 billion investment for rare disease biopharma blueprint medicines. After Sanofi, BioNTech tends to buy rival CureVac at $1.25 billion. On this, BMO thought that if the flow is in and a good relationship is finally beginning to build, then this intention is questionable. Supernus Pharmaceuticals acquired Sage Therapeutics for $795 million. More acquisitions build more collective study and discover new solutions to the healthcare sector.

Which Biotech Companies Might Receive a Tick for Deals?

Jefferies analyzes an effective and approachable deal. According to Jefferies' analysis, Akero Therapeutics is a valuable M&A candidate. The biotech might have sales of $2-3 billion and excellent Phase 2 data for cirrhosis, metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH) therapy. After GSK acquired Boston Pharma for $2 billion, this therapy got stronger. This therapy space was almost close to closing after approval of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals rezdiffra, but now it's again an interest to big pharma companies.

Scholar Rock biopharmaceutical company is expecting FDA clearance for apitegromab in spinal muscular atrophy by September. If cleared, the buyer would be lucky to have a revenue-generating asset along with the phase 2 obesity asset. Obesity is a main target for big pharma companies. The global leaders for obesity are Eli Lily and Novo Nordisk, popularly known for their best licensing deals. China’s massive dealmaking is initiating myriad programs to license to US-based companies.

Views and Statements

BMO’s Evan seigerman noted, “Now we have started to get traction in the pharma market with new ASCO deals such as blueprint medicines, and now CureVac is next. Though macro concerns are still the same but the recent developments in M&A are appreciable.”

Jefferies, a leading investment bank and expert in the healthcare sector, noted, “Johnson and Johnson acquired Intra-Cellular for $14 billion. This acquisition has contributed largely to the total deal value, with the highest reach of $36 billion in comparison to $44 billion for 2024.” In the report, “From the macro perspective, the US new drug pricing policies and tariffs hinder investment decisions mostly for BD teams.”