PwC report looks at M&A activity in first half of 2001 for pharma and

PriceWaterhouse Coopers has just published a report entitledPharmaceutical Sector Insights covering the first six months of 2001, principally focusing on mergers and acquisitions in the industry.

It begins by noting that "deal activity in the pharmaceutical sector has grown in a period when most other sectors have experienced significant declines." The strength of this activity in the first half of 2001 is clear when one looks at the increases over the corresponding period in the previous year in both the number of deals (165 from 152) and in terms of value ($27 billion from $6 billion), though the report notes that this last figure excludes the $76 billion merger of Glaxo Wellcome and SmithKline Beecham. Three transactions exceeded the $2 billion mark in the first half of 2001, compared to just one, the GlaxoSmithKline merger, in the first six months of 2000.

PwC goes on to look at the main themes that were underlying the number of deals being struck in the first half of 2001: