Pharmaceutical/Biotechnology Deal Statistics Quarterly, Q4 2009

Executive Summary

Highlights from the Q4 2009 review of pharmaceutical and biotechnology dealmaking: Financing dollar volume was high with 108 financing deals bringing in close to $5 billion, with a big increase in public financings: IPOS and FOPOs together made up over half of the quarter's total dollar volume. Conversely VC rounds were down--accounting for only 18% of the Q4 aggregate. M&A was strong in Q4 with 27 transactions bringing in close to $8 billion-almost half of these were acquisitions of private biotechs. Deals with big earn-outs were also predominantly featured this quarter (and throughout the year). Alliances in Q4 reached an aggregate potential deal value (pre-commercialization monies) of $5.9 billion, a 46% increase over the previous quarter. Several Big Pharmas did multiple transactions, most notably GlaxoSmithKline PLC, which penned nine of its 20 in-licensing deals in the fourth quarter alone. Q4 also boasted 16 deals with up-front payments exceeding $50 million.