Biotech rally gets US$100bil M&A lift

Plugging the holes: A man walks by Pfizer headquarters in New York. Big names set to lose patent protection for some of their key drugs include Merck & Co and its top-selling cancer medicine Keytruda, as well as AstraZeneca, Pfizer and Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. — AP

NEW YORK: A rash of dealmaking helped reverse the declining fortunes of biotech stocks over the last five months. And as AstraZeneca Plc’s US$1bil deal to acquire closely-held Amolyt Pharma illustrates, the likelihood is there’s much more to come.

A total of 46 listed biotech transactions worth more than US$100bil were announced across the industry last year, the highest since spending peaked in 2019, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.