Health industries M&A becomes more strategic as patent cliffs accelerate and technology reshapes value creation
Global Health Industry M&A stayed selective during the first half of 2026, as dealmakers continued to navigate an uncertain macroeconomic and geopolitical environment. While transaction volumes have declined globally and in Switzerland, companies continue to deploy capital where acquisitions strengthen future growth platforms, replenish innovation pipelines and build technology-enabled capabilities. The Swiss transactions announced during H1 2026 show how these structural topics are increasingly shaping domestic dealmaking.
Global Health Industry M&A activity stayed selective during the first half of 2026. While deal volumes continued to decline since the post-pandemic boom levels seen in 2021, several strategically significant transactions supported overall deal value. In PwC's recent Global M&A Trends in Health Industries: Mid-Year Outlook, my colleagues Jaymal Patel, PwC’s Global Health Industries Deals Leader and Claude Fuhrer, PwC’s Global Health Industries Transformation Leader, highlight three structural themes that continue to shape Pharma & Life Sciences M&A: investments in scalable growth platforms, pipeline replenishment in light of accelerating losses of exclusivity and the rise of technology-enabled healthcare.
As PwC's Swiss Pharma & Life Sciences Deals Leader, I want to share my views on the global developments and explore how these global themes are reflected in the Swiss market and what they reveal about the strategic priorities of Swiss health industry dealmakers.
Global Health Industry M&A
Global Health Industry M&A deal volumes continued to decline. Deal value stayed more resilient, supported by several strategically significant transactions. Excluding megadeals, deal values were still increasing, highlighting continued appetite for targeted and high-quality acquisitions. However, assets whose growth story is not strongly backed-up and whose the path to market is not clear have a hard time trading, as shown by several failed processes in the first half of 2026. Investors are not ready to buy fantasies and are looking for structures where risks are adequately calibrated.
“Health Industries deal volumes were down in H1 2026, but deal values moved up—showing that high-quality assets continue to command strong valuations. Investors remain focused on opportunities that support immediate growth, strengthen mid-term pipelines, or add technological capabilities. The broader recovery of the biotech market is an encouraging signal, and I expect capital to keep flowing into innovative and differentiated assets and platforms."
In the public markets, Biotech continued its recovery. Following the sharp correction in 2022 and 2023, biotechnology equities recovered strongly during the first half of 2026, returning to levels last seen during the post-pandemic rally. Pharmaceutical companies continued their upward trajectory, reflecting resilient earnings and predictable cash generation. While this rally was first driven by big pharma and especially GLP-1, the recovery continued now also in the broader biotech ETFs. Together, these developments have created a more supportive backdrop for strategic transactions. For a more in-depth review of the current valuations in Health Industries, refer to my colleague Peter Urbanek’s report.
Source: S&P CapitalIQ
Global M&A key themes for health industries in 2026
Despite a more selective deal environment, several structural trends continue to shape investment decisions across the global Pharma & Life Sciences industry.
Growth platforms
The commercial success of GLP-1 therapies has highlighted a broader shift in pharmaceutical growth strategies. Increasingly, companies are looking beyond highly specialised therapies towards disease areas capable of serving substantially larger patient populations over extended treatment periods. Obesity has become the clearest example of this transition, with competition expanding beyond first-generation injectable therapies towards oral formulations, combination therapies and adjacent metabolic indications. At the same time, renewed investment in women's health, prevention and other historically underserved therapeutic markets reflects a growing focus on scalable growth opportunities with unmet medical need.
Pipeline replenishment
The industry's approaching wave of losses of exclusivity remains one of the strongest drivers of strategic transactions. As blockbuster products face increasing competition from generics and biosimilars over the remainder of the decade, pharmaceutical companies continue to complement internal R&D through acquisitions, licensing agreements and strategic partnerships. Buyers continue to favour clinically validated assets with differentiated science and well-defined regulatory pathways, particularly in oncology, immunology and metabolic disease. Instead of pursuing transformational mergers, companies are increasingly using targeted transactions to reinforce specific therapeutic franchises and offset future revenue gaps.
Technology and enabling capabilities
Technology is increasingly influencing both what pharmaceutical companies acquire and how they create value following a transaction. Artificial intelligence is becoming embedded across drug discovery, clinical development and commercial operations, while enabling technologies such as life science tools, advanced manufacturing platforms and specialised bioprocessing capabilities are attracting renewed investor interest. Increasingly, these capabilities are becoming an investment rationale in their own right rather than simply supporting post-deal integration. As pharmaceutical innovation becomes more data-driven and technologically sophisticated, companies are widening their investment focus beyond therapeutic assets to include the capabilities that improve the speed, efficiency and scalability of innovation.
Spotlight: India is emerging as a strategic growth engine for global Pharma & Life Sciences
While China is still impressing with the amount of science and innovation, India is rapidly strengthening its position within the global Pharma & Life Sciences ecosystem by combining world-class manufacturing capabilities with a growing innovation ecosystem and one of the world's fastest-growing healthcare markets.
For dealmakers, India offers more than a large domestic market. Continued investment in research, manufacturing and digital health, together with efforts to strengthen supply chain resilience, is making the country an increasingly attractive place for partnerships and acquisitions. At the same time, Indian pharmaceutical companies are becoming more active participants in global M&A through outbound acquisitions, licensing agreements and strategic collaborations.
As India continues to scale its innovation capabilities, it is evolving from a manufacturing powerhouse into an increasingly important market for strategic investment. While established life sciences hubs will remain critical, India is set to play a growing role in shaping global Pharma & Life Sciences dealmaking.
And what about M&A in the Swiss health industry?
Swiss Health Industry M&A activity declined over the last twelve months, with 78 announced transactions involving a Swiss buyer or target, compared with 120 deals in 2025. The decline was primarily driven by lower activity in the Pharma & Life Sciences sector. Although deal count fell to its lowest level since 2020, disclosed deal value proved considerably more resilient.
The same strategic themes driving global M&A are clearly reflected in the Swiss market. Although overall transaction volumes declined, the four largest Swiss Health Industry transactions announced during H1 2026 alone represent an estimated deal value of about $4.4bn.
Growth platforms
The growing focus on differentiated therapeutic platforms is also reflected in Swiss dealmaking. Although obesity and metabolic disease continue to dominate global headlines, companies are equally investing in therapeutic areas addressing significant unmet medical need.
Eli Lilly's acquisition of Basel-based LimmaTech Biologics, valued at up to $780m, expands the company's vaccine portfolio with candidates targeting antimicrobial-resistant bacterial pathogens. Beyond widening Lilly's infectious disease franchise, the transaction illustrates continued appetite for externally sourced innovation in therapeutic areas with significant unmet medical need.
Pipeline replenishment
Pipeline replenishment remains a defining feature of Swiss dealmaking. As patent expiries approach, companies continue to complement internal R&D through targeted acquisitions and partnerships that reinforce existing therapeutic franchises and reduce future revenue gaps.
Novartis' acquisition of Excellergy Therapeutics, valued at about $2bn, reflects this strategy. By adding a next-generation anti-IgE programme, the transaction widens the company's immunology pipeline and shows the continued importance of external innovation in maintaining long-term portfolio competitiveness.
Technology and enabling capabilities
Technology has also become a defining investment theme in Switzerland. Rather than focusing solely on therapeutic assets, companies are increasingly investing in the technologies that improve diagnostics, accelerate drug development and enable more personalised healthcare.
Roche's acquisition of PathAI, valued at up to $1.1bn, expands its AI-powered digital pathology platform, improving laboratory efficiency and supporting precision medicine. Shortly afterwards, Roche announced the acquisition of Saga Diagnostics, valued at up to $595m, further enhancing its diagnostics portfolio through ultra-sensitive molecular residual disease (MRD) testing.
Overall, the decline in Swiss Health Industry M&A mirrors the broader global trend towards lower deal volumes and more selective capital allocation. Yet the transactions announced during H1 2026 show that the strategic priorities shaping global Pharma & Life Sciences M&A remain firmly intact in Switzerland. From investments in future growth platforms and pipeline replenishment to technology-enabled healthcare, Swiss companies continue to deploy capital where it creates long-term strategic value. Rather than signalling weaker strategic intent, the Swiss market demonstrates that companies continue to invest decisively where long-term value creation is greatest.
“The “SaaSpocalypse” has brought renewed focus to resilient markets with strong macroeconomic tailwinds—and Health Industries clearly stands out. We are seeing invigorated Private Equity interest in the sector, although capital deployment, particularly in Europe, remains constrained by a gap between sellers’ price expectations and buyers’ risk appetite. To address this, sponsors are exploring public-to-private transactions, co-investment structures, and selective platform bolt-ons to bring entry multiples down.”