The Pharmaceutical Industry Year 2019 in Review

As 2019 comes to a close, what was the top news stories shaping the pharmaceutical industry? From mega acquisitions to deal-making in cell and gene therapies, to shifting supply lines from a still-to-be resolved Brexit and ongoing trade talks in China, DCAT Value Chain Insights provides a Top 10 ranking of the most impactful developments from 2019. DCAT Review article by By Patricia Van Arnum – DCAT Editorial Director

1. Bristol-Myers Squibb’s $74-billion acquisition of Celgene
Mega mergers represented a leading theme for the pharmaceutical industry in 2019 and on top of the list was the $74-billion acquisition of Celgene by Bristol-Myers Squibb. Announced in January 2019 and completed last month (November 2019), the newly combined company Read more

2. AbbVie’s pending $63-billion acquisition of Allergan
The number two mega merger in 2019 is AbbVie’s pending $63-billion acquisition of Allergan, a deal that was announced in June 2019 and is expected to close in early 2020. Once the deal closes, the combined company would have 2019 annual combined revenue of approximately $48 billion and Read more

3. Takeda’s $62-billion acquisition of Shire
Announced in 2018, Takeda completed its $62-billion of Shire in January 2019, making it the first mega merger of 2019. The deal created a new Top 10 pharma company with annual revenues of $30-plus billion. The deal gives Takeda both reward—increased product diversification and a larger footprint in the US—but also risk—$30.85 billion in new borrowing to finance the deal. Read more

4. The pending combination of Mylan and Pfizer’s generics and off-patent business to form Viatris
In August 2019, Mylan and Pfizer agreed to combine Mylan with Upjohn, Pfizer’s off-patent branded and generic established medicines business, to form a new pharmaceutical company. The new name of the company, Viatris Read more

5. Investment in cell and gene therapies—pharma companies
Although a niche modality, cell and gene therapies have been a recent active area of investment by pharmaceutical companies to add products to their pipelines and manufacturing capabilities. Facing limited manufacturing capacity, several of the large bio/pharmaceutical companies have added manufacturing capabilities for cell and gene therapies as part of larger-scale acquisitions.Read more

6. Investment in cell and gene therapies capabilities—CDMOs/CMOs
Adding capabilities in cell and gene therapy production has also been a target of certain contract development and manufacturing organizations/contract manufacturing organizations Read more

7. Changing of the guard at the FDA and the EMA
Organizational change at the top of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) was an important development in 2019 with FDA Commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb stepping down from his post in April and with his spot being filled on an interim basis by FDA Read more

8. Global shifts: Brexit and China
The still-to-be resolved withdrawal of the UK from the European Union (EU) (i.e., Brexit) and escalating trade friction with China were two broader policy moves with implications for the pharmaceutical industry in 2019.Throughout the Brexit process, the UK pharmaceutical industry has maintained a position of the importance of the UK securing a deal to exit the EU, Read more

9. API patent reform in the EU
In a much-debated move, the European Union adopted earlier this year (2019) manufacturing waivers to supplementary protection certificates (SPCs), a move supported by generics and biosimilars producers and active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) manufacturers. The manufacturing waiver for SPCs has been the subject of great debate between the generics/biosimilars industry and innovator drug companies. Read more

10. Bolt-on Acquisitions
While mega mergers dominated the news in 2019, several pharmaceutical companies made key smaller acquisitions to build their pipelines and commercial portfolios. In July, Pfizer completed its acquisition of Array Biopharma, a Boulder, Colorado-based commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company for $11.4 billion. Array Biopharma is Read more

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