Global M&A trends in health industries

Consumers, pipelines, and technology: The three forces reshaping health industries dealmaking

Consumer demand, scientific innovation, and technology-led care are not new forces in health industries M&A, but in 2026, they have become more important than ever. Demand is shifting the growth model from premium-priced therapies for narrower populations toward broader-access treatments. Prevention and consumer-funded care are also becoming larger investable growth pools. And data and AI are rapidly changing how healthcare companies discover and deliver care.

Investors are responding with greater selectivity and conviction, as shown by the uptick in megadeals (transactions valued at more than $5bn) in early 2026. Strategic buyers are pursuing assets with proven biology, clearer regulatory pathways, and differentiated data. Sponsors are using creative structures, including take-privates, carve-outs, co-control investments, and continuation vehicles, to deploy capital while valuation gaps narrow. Below the largest transactions, the market remains uneven, with many sell-side processes still in preparation and buyers focused on quality over volume.

We expect dealmaking momentum to build through the second half of 2026. Activity should increase in consumer-led categories such as women’s health; GLP-1s and other next-generation obesity and metabolic therapies; prevention; and care-at-home. Biopharma bolt-ons backed by proven biology are also likely to remain active. Investors are expected to deploy capital towards digital, data, and AI-enabled assets at an increasing rate. Buyers’ post-deal value creation is also evolving from traditional cost synergies towards access expansion, data monetisation, and digitally enabled operating models.

Regionally, the US and China will continue to shape growth and innovation strategies, but emerging markets are becoming harder to ignore. India is a clear example: its growing population, expanding middle class, and scaling healthcare capabilities are making it more relevant both as a destination for consumer-led demand and as an emerging outbound acquirer.

India is becoming increasingly relevant to global health industries M&A as fast-growing consumer demand, expanding clinical and manufacturing capability, and technology-enabled care models converge. A larger middle class, government health insurance, greater willingness to pay privately for healthcare, and rapid digital adoption are creating opportunities across consumer health, hospitals, specialist clinics, and digital health for private equity to accelerate consolidation within India’s highly fragmented domestic healthcare sector.

India is also playing a more strategic role as a cost-efficient source of clinical and manufacturing capability. Domestic pharma companies remain strongest in generics, biosimilars, and manufacturing, but those capabilities are becoming more valuable as patent cliffs approach and demand grows for broader-access treatments, including in metabolic and prevention-led categories. The BIOSECURE Act and broader ‘China + 1’ strategies are increasing investor interest in India as companies diversify manufacturing networks. India has the highest number of FDA-compliant plants outside the US. Life sciences tools and bioprocessing activity are following the same logic as global pharma seeks cost efficient, regulation-compliant manufacturing partners.

The third theme is technology-enabled care. India’s scale and digital infrastructure are helping local healthcare models develop quickly, particularly in access, affordability, diagnostics, and care delivery. Some of these models could become relevant beyond India as other markets look for lower-cost, digitally enabled ways to meet rising healthcare demand.

India is also stepping onto the global stage as an outbound acquirer. Sun Pharma’s acquisition of US-based Organon brings scale in women’s health, established brands, and biosimilars to an Indian buyer at a size and complexity not previously seen from the region. It shows how larger Indian pharma companies are looking beyond their home market to add capabilities, brands, and global reach.

For global dealmakers, India increasingly brings together three important themes: consumer demand, scalable capability, and technology-enabled care. We expect it to feature more often in cross-border activity through the second half of 2026 and beyond, both as an investment destination and as an emerging outbound acquirer.

Global health industries M&A in the first five months of 2026 was marked by a return of megadeal activity and a more selective market beneath the top tier. Six megadeals were announced in the first five months of the year, showing that well-capitalised strategic and sponsor-led buyers are prepared to move when the asset and valuation are right. Overall volumes remained measured, reflecting continued caution, tighter buyer scrutiny, and a sizeable pipeline of sell-side processes still in the preparation stage. This points to a market with deal flow—but not yet broad-based recovery.

Women’s health moves into the mainstream

Women’s health is moving from a niche category. It’s one of the most undercapitalised growth markets in healthcare today and could represent a multibillion-dollar opportunity for investors and operators. Demand is broadening across fertility, menopause and mid-life health, women’s oncology, diagnostics, care delivery, and consumer health. The category sits at the intersection of several forces shaping M&A: consumer willingness to pay, more personalised care, stronger data, and growing interest in prevention. 

PwC’s The future of women’s health report sizes the global women’s health market, including core categories and adjacent conditions such as cardiovascular and autoimmune disease, at roughly $430bn to $440bn today and projects it will exceed $600bn by 2030. Nearly $60bn of private capital flowed into core women’s health between 2020 and 2025, with menopause and mid-life health emerging as one of the fastest-growing funding categories.

The delivery opportunity is also significant. Ob-gyn, fertility, maternity, and specialty services remain highly fragmented, creating opportunities for sponsor-led consolidation. Value creation is likely to come from multi-site scale, centralised diagnostics, payer and employer channels, and AI-enabled differentiation in areas such as embryo selection and lab automation in fertility.

Innovation in China continues to globalise

China will remain an important source of external innovation for global pharma. In our January 2026 M&A outlook, we highlighted record 2025 China outbound licensing activity and rising use of NewCo structures. That interest has continued into 2026, with Western pharma still looking to Chinese biotechs for speed, scale, and scientific capability.

Bristol Myers Squibb’s (BMS’s) agreement with Hengrui and Pfizer’s collaboration with Innovent Biologics, both announced in May 2026, show how licensing and partnership models are being used to accelerate access to Chinese innovation. The BMS-Hengrui agreement covers 13 early-stage programmes in oncology, hematology, and immunology. The Pfizer-Innovent collaboration covers 12 early-stage and de novo cancer programmes.

These models are likely to remain attractive because they can benefit both parties. Chinese biotechs typically retain rights in their home territory, while Western pharma gains rights across the rest of the world. In some cases, the arrangement also gives the Chinese partner distribution rights in China for selected Western-originated assets.

For dealmakers, the opportunity is significant, but success will depend on disciplined diligence around data quality, IP, regulatory complexity, and geopolitical risk.

AI creates winners and losers across health industries

AI is changing the deal landscape unevenly. In pharma and life sciences, the impact should become more visible across R&D, clinical development, evidence generation, and commercial operations. That is directing capital toward assets with differentiated datasets, AI-enabled workflows, and digital infrastructure.

In healthcare delivery, the disruption is likely to be different. AI can create efficiencies in diagnostics, scheduling, revenue cycle management, and clinical-decision support, but it is unlikely to remove the need for human-delivered care at the bedside where the model remains heavily people-led.

For dealmakers, this creates a sharper diligence question around how AI changes the margin profile. Assets that can demonstrate measurable productivity gains are likely to attract stronger interest. Across services businesses with more people-dependent delivery models, buyers are also assessing how AI could reshape margins, operating models, and value creation plans.

Private capital keeps healthcare services in play

B2B-oriented services such as occupational health, dental, specialist clinics, mental health, and social care remain attractive to private capital, especially where buyers can build multi-site platforms; professionalise operations; and expand into employer, payer, or self-pay channels. Business-to-government and business-to-consumer services continue to face more pressure from public budget constraints, reimbursement exposure, and consumer affordability.

Portfolio repositioning is being enabled by private capital. Blackstone and TPG’s acquisition of Hologic in a take-private transaction valued at up to $18.3bn and Groupe Bruxelles Lambert’s €0.5bn ($0.7bn) equity investment in ophthalmic medtech company Rayner show how sponsors are using take-privates, carve-outs, and co-control agreements to deploy capital while exit routes remain selective. These structures can help bridge valuation gaps and give assets more time to deliver value creation plans.

We expect buyers to remain disciplined on workforce dependency, reimbursement exposure, and the ability of technology to improve margins when making investment decisions over the remainder of the year.

The second half of 2026 will reward acquirers and sponsors who reposition early, transact with discipline, and have a clear value creation thesis at the point of entry. For dealmakers, that means leaning into consumer-led categories such as women’s health, GLP-1s, prevention, and care-at-home; staying focused on pipeline replenishment through bolt-ons backed by proven biology; and treating technology as an important part of the deal thesis, not just an enabler. The deals that matter most will be those that build the access, evidence, and digital capabilities needed to compete in the next phase of health industries M&A.