The staff of Fortune recently assembled its predictions for 2016. Here’s one of our forecasts.
Pharma and biotech stocks swooned recently (the S&P Pharmaceuticals Select Industry Index is down 25% in the last three months), largely on concerns about greater drug price regulation. As the stocks fell, experts also observed that the sector’s frenzied M&A wave took a breather. After all, the currency fueling much of the deal-making—those companies’ inflated equity valuations—is now depressed, and acquisition targets may prefer to hold out for a higher price. While the Pfizer-Allergan merger would push the 2015 healthcare M&A total to new heights, it may also be this cycle’s last hurrah. Expect a slowdown in pharma deals in 2016.
This article is part of the 2016 Fortune Crystal Ball, a package of 33 predictions about business, politics and the economy by the writers and editors of Fortune. To see the entire package, click here.
