Christoph Bieri
Managing Partner, Kurmann Partners AG

The pharmaceutical industry probably sees more M&A activity than other industries, both in the number of deals and the amount of money spent on acquisitions and mergers. No other industry can compare when it comes to M&As: large, game-changing deals continuously and profoundly change the competitive landscape, while smaller yet still significant  transactions are an integral part of operations of pharma companies. 

So, why is M&A so important for the industry?

Below we describe key drivers that force pharma companies to redefine themselves, and why large M&A is the preferred way to do so. The article then continues by describing why M&A is a standard component of the pharma business model. Finally, we conclude by showing M&A transaction patterns in strategic business areas as we observe it, which corroborates our concepts and hypotheses.

KEY FACTORS TRIGGERING CHANGES IN THE PHARMA INDUSTRY

The single most important driver for changes in the pharma industry is the ever-increasing cost of drug development: most companies can no longer afford to carry out R&D to find innovative compounds. 

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