Pharma Insights 2004-2005

June 2005

The seventh survey of global M&A in the pharmaceutical and related healthcare sectors has been published by PricewaterhouseCoopers' corporate finance team. In this edition, deal activity during 2004 and the outlook for 2005 is reviewed.

An increase in deal activity in the pharmaceutical and related healthcare sectors was seen during 2004, mirroring the M&A recovery in other industry sectors. Deal numbers rose by 20% to 1,808 transactions. Excluding Sanofi-Synthelabo's $60 billion acquisition of Aventis, the aggregate value of deals increased by 53% to $112 billion in 2004.

As well as coverage of the mainstream pharmaceutical sector, we also include separate reviews of the medical devices and diagnostics market, and fund-raising for the industry as a whole. Healthcare services are not covered in this review since it is primarily a national rather than global sector.

If you would like to discuss these or any other sector issues, please contact Neal Ransome, European Pharmaceutical sector leader, or another member of our pharmaceutical sector team.