Fueled by cancer, obesity and CV deals, $1B+ takeouts are on the rise

With a month remaining, 2025 is already tied for the most $1 billion-plus M&A deals in any year in the past 10 years — a trend driven in part by pharma’s need to offset its patent cliff and the still-narrow IPO window for biotechs.

As of Dec. 1, biopharma companies had disclosed 37 $1 billion-plus acquisitions, the same number as in full-year 2021. This year’s preliminary total is already a 32% increase over last year’s 28 $1 billion-plus deals...