'Slight decline' in pharmaceutical M&A activity

A new report has highlighted a slight downward trend in mergers and acquisitions.

The last 18 months has seen a slight decline in pharmaceutical merger and acquisition (M&A) activity, following steady levels since 2008, a report has revealed.

Research by intelligence firm Irving Levin Associates indicates that activity remained steady between January 2008 and the end of 2010.

However, the number of deals fell by nearly 20 per cent in 2011 and this trend has continued through 2012.
A total of 52 transactions were announced in the first six months of this year - about ten per cent fewer than the 58 deals that were announced in the first half of 2011.

The most impressive year for M&A activity was 2007, when 180 transactions were announced totalling $71 billion.

Irving Levin Associates' report notes that the dollar volume reported for 2009 was far higher than 2007's figure, thanks to two mega-deals.

The reported dollar volume for the year was $147 billion as a result of Pfizer's $68 billion acquisition of Wyeth and Merck's $41 billion acquisition of Schering-Plough.