Smid-cap Biopharma Companies Acquired 2022
(Originally posted 7/25/2022)
Summary
BPIQ monitors mergers and acquisitions (M&A's) of smid-cap biopharmas
Acquisition announcements typically involve an acquirer paying a premium price, and thus a large stock price increase
Since 2021 biotech has been down ~40%, but stocks have seen a comeback in Q2 2022, which may have partially been the result of an uptick in M&As
However, there have been a much higher percentage of smaller deals in '22 than '21
We follow these companies to determine acquisition price, the size of the acquiring company, and the latest clinical trial stage of the acquired company
See more info about the recent increase in biotech stocks in our Amp forum post HERE after subscribing. Learn more here.
At BPIQ we monitor M&A involving smid-cap biopharma*. While there were not many M&As in 2021 or the first quarter of 2022, the biotech sector has started to see a change since May 2022. Biotech stocks have been struggling since early 2021, but recently in Q2 2022 the biotech sector seems to be making a comeback. This may be at least partially driven by an increase in smid-cap biopharma M&A since ~May 2022.
Table 1 summarizes the number of smid-cap biopharma acquisitions per quarter since Q1 2021, along with a breakdown of companies by the price of acquisition and the size of the acquirer. There is a clear uptick in the number of smid-cap biopharma M&A announcements starting in Q2 2022, especially compared to Q2 2021 and Q1 2022. Furthermore, there have already been several acquisitions announced and completed in the first month of Q2 2022.
However, if we focus on acquisitions with values greater than $1B, there were 3 in Q2 2022 by our count, which is the same as, or less than, the 3 or 4 >$1B acquisitions announced in 3 of 4 quarters in 2021. Thus, there appears to be an uptick in smid-cap biopharma M&A activity in Q2 2022, especially May 2022, but this increase appears to be driven by smaller deals. Maybe this isn't surprising since the valuations of most smid-cap biopharma companies have been severely reduced over the past 1.5 years
Table 1. Smid-cap biopharma M&A's by quarter
In 2021, over half of the acquiring companies were large cap companies (>$10B market cap) and 75% of the acquisitions had a price greater than $1B. So far in 2022 there have been 12 acquisitions announced and 10 completed, with almost half of the buyers large cap companies, but only 33% had an acquisition price greater than $1B. In fact, the acquisition price for 1/2 of the 2022 acquisitions have been less than $500M. In 2021, the number of acquired companies with a Phase 3 or later stage trial was >80% and so far in 2022 85% of acquired (or announced) companies have a Phase 3 or later stage trial. This shows the importance of later stage and/or approved clinical assets for acquisition candidate companies. Clearly smid-caps that have a Phase 3 or commercial asset are the key targets for M&A. Thus, investors looking to profit by holding stock in a company when it announces it is being acquired should focus on companies with stage 3 or later assets.
In 2021, the number of acquired companies with a Phase 3 or later stage trial was >80% and so far in 2022 85% of acquired (or announced) companies have a Phase 3 or later stage trial. This shows the importance of later stage clinical trials for companies trying to be acquired. Clearly smid-caps that have a Phase 3 asset or are commercial are the key targets for M&A. In 2021, 75% of the acquisitions had a price >$1B and over half of the acquiring companies were large cap companies (>$10B market cap). So far in 2022 there have been 12 acquisitions announced and 10 completed, with almost half of the buyers large cap. companies
Table 2 details the companies that have been acquired since the beginning of 2022. The percentage of these companies with Phase 3 or later trials is 85%. See more info on the acquisition price and how some investors play these M&A stock moves in our full forum post HERE.
Table 2. Smid-cap biopharma acquisitions in 2022
See our previous Acquired companies forum post for early 2022 acquired companies Footnote:
*Depending on the acquiring company, we may remove company assets from our database as we do not track large cap companies currently. However, if a smid-cap company is the buyer company, we will continue to track the assets under the new company ticker.
This article is NOT legal, investment or tax advice. Please do your own diligence before making any investments. #PRVL #LLY #EIDX #BBIO #VIE #HZNP #UROV #PAND #MRK #FPRX #AMGN #GWPH #JAZZ #CNST #MOR #CHMA #AMYT #TBIO #SNY #TLC #SBBP #XERS #KDMN #SNY #TRIL #PFE #FLXN #PCRX #XLRN #MRK #ADMS #SUPN #DRNA #NVO #ODT #ZGNX #UCB #ARNA #PFE #BDSI #COLL #XENT #MDT #ATRS #HALO #CMPI #REGN #ORPH #KMPH #ZSAN #BHVN #PFE #TXMD #TPTX #BMY #EPZM #IPSEF #TYME #SYRS #SRRA #GLAXD #LBPS #LJPC #INVA Article histry:
Originally posted 7/21/22
Updated 7/25/2022
