The year began with a bang, with Bristol-Myers Squibb lining up a $74bn (€65.2bn) acquisition of Celgene – in the largest deal the pharmaceutical industry had seen, though it was not without its controversy.
Closely following on the heels of this deal was the announcement that Eli Lilly would spend $8bn on Loxo Oncology, gaining access to the latter’s pipeline of targeted treatments for single gene disorders.
Following these two announcements, a further two deals of similar significance were announced in the summer months: AbbVie’s $63bn deal for Allergan and Pfizer’s tie up with Mylan for the creation of a new pharmaceutical company.
The question remains whether the pace and scale of M&A for the latter half of 2019 will continue towards the end of the year.
Here’s an opportunity to have your say:
