Three major deals contributed 74 per cent of deal value in August 2020

In August 2020, the healthcare industry reported 59 deals worth $35.4 billion as compared to the last 12-month average (August 2019 to July 2020) of 73 deals worth $10 billion.

Deal value in the M&A market reported a surge in August 2020. Siemens Healthineers AG to acquire all outstanding shares of Varian Medical Systems for $177.50 per share or $16.4 billion in cash; Johnson & Johnson to acquire Momenta Pharmaceuticals, a biotechnology company for $52.5 per share in cash, representing a total equity value of $6.5 billion; Sanofi to acquire all of the outstanding shares of Principia Biopharma for $100 per share in cash, representing an aggregate equity value of approximately $3.6 billion were the three big-ticket deals which contributed 74 per cent of the total deal value during August 2020.

VC investments reported an increase in deal value in August 2020

The healthcare industry reported 100 venture capital (VC) deals worth $3.3 billion in August 2020, compared to the last 12-month average (August 2019 to July 2020) of 114 deals worth $2.3 billion.

Lepu Biotech, a biotechnology company specialised in tumour immunotherapy raising $186 million in series B round of financing to accelerate the research and development, clinical trials and product launches of its multiple anti-tumour drugs; Suzhou Sinovent Pharmaceuticals raising $144.5 million in series C financing to promote the ongoing clinical trials of its new products and Atomwise raising $123 million in series B round of financing to scale its AI technology platform and expand its pipeline for small molecule drug discovery are the major VC deals reported in August 2020.