Biotech acquisitions are accelerating. Follow the deals as they happen.

Large drugmakers collectively face the loss of patent protection on products generating more than $180 billion in annual sales by the end of the decade. Buying smaller companies is the fastest way to replace that revenue, and this year they have been buying.

A change in what gets bought

Three years ago the typical target had an approved product. This year, twelve of the nineteen billion-dollar acquisitions involved companies whose lead drug was still in clinical testing. Buyers are accepting more scientific risk in exchange for lower prices and longer patent lives.

Rare disease leads

Six of the deals involved rare disease developers. The appeal is consistent: smaller trials, pricing power and, in some cases, regulatory incentives that extend exclusivity.

Premiums are rising

The median premium paid over a target's prior share price has climbed to 78%, from 54% last year. Bankers attribute that to competition; several recent sales drew three or more bidders.

Nobody wants to be the chief executive explaining a revenue gap in 2029 with nothing in the pipeline to fill it.

What to watch

Antitrust scrutiny has eased for deals where the buyer and target do not overlap, but transactions that combine competing products are still drawing long reviews. Two announced this spring have yet to close.