Deals In 2023: Partnerships And Modest M&A

06 Feb 2023

• By Melanie Senior

Mid-sized M&A, collaborations, creative financing, and biotech consolidation will feature in 2023. IPOs and follow-ons play bit-parts.

Dealmaking will continue to pick up in 2023, but don’t expect mega-mergers. That’s the message from many industry-watchers, chastened by a largely forgettable 2022 that failed to deliver the expected dealmaking frenzy as biotech valuations plunged. A more aggressive Federal Trade Commission (FTC), a still-fragile macro-economic environment, plus the uncertain specter of US drug price controls mean buyers are hesitant.

In 2022, total biopharma M&A reached about $80bn – nearly a third of which came from Amgen, Inc.’s proposed...