Healthcare industry sets 52 deals worth US$9.5 bn in Oct’19

According to a GlobalData report, in October 2019 the healthcare industry reported 52 deals worth US$9.5 billion as compared to the last 12-month average (October 2018 to September 2019) of 57 deals worth US$28 billion. A couple of big ticket deals — Amgen’s proposed acquisition of 20.5 per cent stake in BeiGene, a biopharmaceutical company focusing on developing molecularly targeted and immuno-oncology drug candidates for the treatment of cancer for US$2.7 billion, and UCB announcing to acquire Ra Pharma, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company for US$2.1 billion — have contributed 50 per cent to the total deal value in October 2019. Bavarian Nordic’s proposed acquisition of two vaccines from GlaxoSmithKline for up to US$1.1 billion, and Alexion Pharma announcing to acquire Achillion Pharma for US$930 million are the other two notable ones announced in October 2019.

The industry reported 85 venture capital (VC) deals worth US$1.7 billion in October 2019, compared to the last 12-month average (October 2018 to September 2019) of 98 deals worth US$1.8 billion. Nuvation Bio raising US$275 million in series A financing; Arcutis Biotherapeutics raising US$94.5 million in series C financing; Tenaya Therapeutics raising US$92 million in series B financing round are some of the major VC deals reported in October 2019.