Published November 29, 2023
Biopharma M&A Market Update and 2024 Outlook
Healthcare M&A activity declined in 2023 due, in part, to rising interest rates and persistent economic uncertainty. Biopharma was the most active healthcare subsector for M&A, while Services experienced the largest year-over-year decline due largely to a drop in financial sponsor activity. Looking forward to 2024, we expect Biopharma M&A activity to remain resilient as large pharmaceutical companies attempt to fill revenue and pipeline gaps via acquisitions of late- or commercial-stage companies. Furthermore, we expect to see more pre-commercial biopharma companies pursue strategic alternatives, including mergers, reverse mergers and cash-out transactions as a result of the challenging capital markets environment.