With Genentech and Roche seen moving closer to a deal and the Schering-Plough tie-up with Merck commanding the attention of the drug industry's analysts, the Wall Street Journal lays out a consensus that the consolidation underway now will soon force more M&A activity in biotechnology.
At the top of the list of M&A candidates: Eli Lilly, AstraZeneca, Sanofi-Aventis and Johnson & Johnson. And with BIO counting 180 publicly-traded biotechs with less than a year's supply of cash in the midst of a credit crunch, there will be plenty of takeover candidates begging for a deal.
The big question is whether big pharma will want to buy small developers. There's a widespread belief that pharma's best strategy is to strike new partnerships with biotech companies rather than buying them. "You don't want to bring them in to the mother ship because then you ruin it," says Chris Viehbacher, Sanofi's CEO.
- read the report from the Wall Street Journal
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