US Pharma Mergers and Acquisitions in 3Q17

The US pharmaceutical sector consists of different setups pertaining to development, manufacturing or production, and drug marketing. These setups consist of drug manufacturers, drug marketers, and biotechnology companies.

Mergers and acquisitions in the US pharmaceuticals during the third quarter of 2017 included the following:

• On October 3, Gilead Sciences (GILD) announced that Dodgers Merger Sub, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Gilead Sciences, completed the acquisition of Kite Therapeutics (KITE) for ~$11.9 billion.
• On October 3, Abbott Laboratories (ABT) completed the acquisition of Alere.
• On October 2, Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) announced that it had completed the divestiture of its Codman Neurosurgery business, a Johnson & Johnson subsidiary, to Integra Life Sciences Holding for ~$1.04 billion.
• On September 7, Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY) announced that the company had completed the acquisition of IFM Therapeutics, a Massachusetts-based, privately held biopharmaceutical company.
• On August 28, Sanofi (SNY) announced that the company had completed the acquisition of Protein Sciences, a Connecticut-based biotechnology company, into its vaccines business.
• On July 31, Zoetis (ZTS) announced that it had completed the acquisition of Nexvet BioPharma. The deal size was ~$85 million.

Notably, the PowerShares Dynamic Pharmaceuticals ETF (PJP) has 5.3% of its total assets in Gilead Sciences (GILD), 4.7% of its total assets in Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), and 5.0% of its total assets in Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY).