Life sciences licensing deals in the first quarter of 2018: updates and trends

During the first quarter of 2018, Cortellis Competitive Intelligence registered 879 new deals (excluding mergers and acquisitions) with a total disclosed deal value of approximately USD 35.2 billion as part of its ongoing coverage of licensing activity in the life sciences sector. This compares to 1,203 and USD 26.2 bil-lion in the fourth quarter of 2017, and 1,158 and USD 31.8 billion in the first quarter of 2017. This meant a significant increase in the total disclosed deal value compared to these two previous periods (+34% and +10.7%, respectively), and included the USD 5.8 billion pact between Merck and Co. and Eisai which became the highest-value deal in the last 4-year opening quarters. However, during the first quarter of 2018 there was not a high number of signed agreements versus the fourth quarter of 2017 and the first quarter of 2017 (-27% and -24%, respectively), reaching a number similar to that in the first quarter of 2014 with a total of 931 agreements covered.