Biopharma offers the best PE returns of any health care sector, but represents only about a third of private equity investment in health care as investors remain wary of high-risk R&D and tend to focus on easier targets, which are in limited supply. As the low-hanging fruit disappears, PE investors are looking at new approaches beyond outright purchases and sorting out opportunities in emerging markets.
Biopharma is the most profitable health care segment for private equity investors, but the opportunities for PE firms within biopharma, always scarce, may be dwindling further.
Trends that made the industry ripe for private equity (PE) investment are shifting – internal cost-cutting and restructuring initiatives are...