North American Pharma & Life Sciences M&A Update – February 2010

Deal activity in the pharma and life sciences sector crept up slightly from January’s levels with 17 announced deals in the month. Included in the transactions was Merck’s $7.2 billion mega bid for laboratory and biotech supply giant Millipore Corporation — a move aimed at diversifying Merck’s revenues to offset the impact of upcoming patent expiries.

There was one Canadian-related deal: MDS Inc.’s divestiture of its US-based MDS Pharma Services to Ricera Biosciences LLC.

Of the 17 transactions, 29% (five) were cross border. Two North American companies sold to buyers from Japan and Germany and 3 North American companies made investments in Switzerland, Finland and the UK.

Private equity and venture capital funds remain active on the sell-side, divesting of 8 companies across the subsectors. There was only 1 announced investment, which was in the services sector.

On a subsector basis, deals in pharma services dominated activity, accounting for 41% (seven) of all deal announcements, while drug development and medical devices accounted for 29% (five) each.

North American Pharma & Life Sciences M&A Update – February 2010 (202 KB)