With less than a month of 2025 to go, data already shows a significant jump in deal value compared to 2024. What acted as M&A fuel this year, and what could be in store in 2026? One point being the wave of upcoming drug patent expiries is anticipated to be one of the largest to hit the industry. A recent report by GlobalData projects that a significant share of global drug sales under patent protection will decline by 2030. Only 4% of global drug sales will have patent protection, compared to 12% and 6% in 2022 and 2024. Patent expiries for Novartis, MSD, and J&J, amongst others, will contribute to a US drug market that is set to lose over $230bn in revenue between this year and 2030. “We’re expecting 2026 to be one of the most active years ever for biopharma dealmaking – both in terms of deal volume and transaction size. The wave of patent expirations […] will have a significant impact on the sector,” says Kenny Walker-Durrant, partner in Technology and Life Sciences at Goodwin.
Read the Pharmaceutical Technology article for more.