Deals
Biotech Investors Celebrating Deal Boom Can Thank Rough Quarter
- Gene therapy companies are front and center amid rise in deals
- Street looking for more M&A as companies seek diversification
Photographer: Cole Burston/Bloomberg
This article is for subscribers only.
Biotechnology investors popping corks at the slew of deals opening 2019 can thank a fourth-quarter slump for reigning in bloated valuations. And market watchers don’t see the volume of activity slowing down any time soon.
As the biotech sector tumbled more than 25 percent from its peak -- notably underperforming the broader market -- stock valuations began to look more palatable for large-cap companies looking to take a dip into cutting-edge technologies like gene therapies. That has helped push across a string of deals like Roche Holding AG’s $4.8 billion bid for Spark Therapeutics Inc. and Biogen Inc.’s $877 million offer for Nightstar Therapeutics Plc.