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Life sciences M&A deal dollars slow-down in Q3

Trends in M&A volume and deal value

During the third quarter of 2018, Cortellis Deals Intelligence registered 131 new mergers and acquisitions (M&A) with a total disclosed deal value of $16 billion as part of its ongoing coverage of M&A activity in the life sciences sector compared to 113 and $104.6 billion in the second quarter and 124 and $30.1 billion in the third quarter of the 2017.

Q3 didn’t have the benefit of a mega merger to drive the dollars up, like we saw in the first half of the year, first with Cigna’s $67B bid for Express Scripts and then Takeda’s $62.3B move on Shire in the spring. Still, M&A dollars experienced a significant slowing overall, with Q3 2018 47% down in its year over year comparison.

The reported deal dollars in the third quarter of 2018 were barely helped by Medtronic’s $1.64 billion approach for medical device firm Mazor Robotics as it looks to expand into robotic-assisted spinal surgery.

We tracked 34 high-value new M&As worth in excess of $100 million during the third quarter of 2018 with 10 worth more than $500 million. Complete the form opposite to get the full report.