Pharma Merger Trends - Insights From An Industry Consultant At Rondaxe

By Ed Miseta, Chief Editor, Clinical Leader

Just three months into 2013, several merger announcements have already crossed the wires. I spoke with Joel Lirot, VP of business development for consulting firm Rondaxe, about merger and acquisition trends he sees in the pharmaceutical industry. Lirot answers questions such as:

• how are firms finding partners
• are the mergers good or bad for the industry
• can we expect merger activity to continue, and
• what advice do you have for firms undergoing a merger

Lirot also shares some insights on outsourcing.

From the article:

"When Gilead Sciences purchased Pharmasset in 2011, they paid $11 billion for a product that still had a significant amount of risk. That’s huge, and it shows the dire need for new drugs that we are currently seeing in the industry, particularly by large pharma. Gilead made the acquisition to get its hands on a promising Hepatitis drug. I think we will see more of that type of acquisition. When you look at Big Pharma, their pipelines are not very strong, regardless of what they try to tell you."

Joel Lirot, VP of business development, Rondaxe