Gilead, Merck, Eli Lilly Lead $106B Biopharma Takeover Wave In 2026

• Pharmaceutical giants are aggressively pursuing acquisitions to offset looming patent cliffs, as major blockbuster drugs face loss of exclusivity over the next several years.
• Firms are trying to add new drugs to their portfolio with their deals, expanding into new or supplementing existing therapeutic areas. 
• Average deal size has climbed to $527.3 million in 2026, up from $365 million in 2025, CNBC reported.

Global biopharma mergers and acquisitions have accelerated sharply in 2026, with deal value reportedly reaching $106 billion across 201 transactions through early June.

If the current pace continues, the sector is projected to exceed $250 billion in total deal value for the full year—the strongest performance since the 2019 pre-pandemic peak, CNBC reported, citing PitchBook data.

Pharmaceutical giants are aggressively pursuing acquisitions to offset looming patent expiries, as major blockbuster drugs face loss of exclusivity over the next several years. Firms are trying to add new drugs to their portfolio with their deals, expanding into new or supplementing existing therapeutic areas.

“Pharma companies [are] really buying stuff like it’s going out of fashion,” Rajesh Kumar, head of life sciences and healthcare equity research at HSBC, told CNBC.

Activity has shifted heavily toward strategic “bolt-on” acquisitions in the $1 billion to $5 billion range rather than large leveraged buyouts or mega-mergers, Nanna Lüneborg, general partner at life sciences venture capital firm Forbion, told CNBC. She doesn’t believe pharma is panic buying, but noted that many companies are prioritizing products that are close to commercialization while also investing in earlier-stage assets to gain access to innovative new technologies.

Average deal size has climbed to $527.3 million so far in 2026, up from $365 million in 2025, CNBC reported. 

Five Biggest Mergers And Acquisitions In US Biopharma Space In 2026

Here are the five largest announced year-to-date:

• Sun Pharmaceutical Industries acquires Organon: India’s Sun Pharma agreed to buy New Jersey-based Organon in an all-cash deal at $14 per share for an $11.75 billion enterprise value. Organon’s portfolio of more than 70 medicines, including a strong biosimilars and women’s health franchise, gives Sun immediate scale in the U.S., China, and Brazil.
• Gilead Sciences (GILD) acquires Arcellx: The $7.8 billion deal, announced in the first quarter and completed on April 28, bolsters Gilead’s oncology and autoimmune pipeline with Arcellx’s next-generation CAR-T cell therapy for multiple myeloma.
• Merck & Co. (MRK) acquires Terns Pharmaceuticals: Merck purchased the California-based biopharma for $6.7 billion in a deal announced in late March. The acquisition centers on Terns' oral drug candidate TERN-701 for chronic myeloid leukemia.
• Eli Lilly (LLY) acquires Centessa Pharmaceuticals: The $7.8 billion total consideration deal, announced in March, targeted Centessa’s pipeline of experimental therapies for the treatment of excessive daytime sleepiness and related neurological conditions. 
• Biogen (BIIB) acquires Apellis Pharmaceuticals: Biogen gained the Massachusetts-based company’s approved therapies Syfovre and Empaveli, plus additional immunology assets, in a $5.6 billion deal announced on March 31.

The State Street SPDR S&P Biotech ETF (XBI), which tracks the S&P Biotechnology Select Industry Index, has risen 9% year-to-date, trading near $130.

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