Merger and acquisition activity has been rather slow in the biopharma industry so far this year. But, by one team of analysts’ calculations, large drugmakers will have big piles of cash to deploy in 2022.
Eighteen large-cap U.S. and European biopharmas will have more than $500 billion in cash on hand by the end of 2022, SVB Leerink analyst Geoffrey Porges and his team wrote in a Wednesday note. The companies could use the money to strike deals, pay down debt or offer returns to shareholders through dividends or share buybacks, the analysts said.
Because the companies can leverage their assets to borrow additional capital, the theoretical firepower of the 18 drugmakers would be enormous at more than $1.7 trillion, the analysts wrote.
