IFBC Sector Report 2022 – Life Sciences & Healthcare

The European Life Sciences & Healthcare sector is currently confronted with various trends and challenges, all of which emphasize the dynamic environment as well as the major changes emerging in the near future during and after a global pandemic.

We are thrilled to provide insights into most recent trends, stock performance, valuation levels as well as operating performance, and to present an overview of the European M&A environment, elaborate on exciting deal stories as well as describe the most recent buyer and investor landscape within three selected subsectors: pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, and medical equipment.

Subsector dashboard

Pharmaceuticals seek to optimize their business and cut costs by focusing on their core business segments using divestments, leading to an increase in EBIT margins and a consolidation in the subsector with fewer and more specialized market players.

The high increase in number of deals as well as the high valuation level in the biotechnology subsector, driven by the vast improvements in areas such as genetic engineering, is accompanied by an accentuated interest of overseas buyers and financial investors. Especially the successful breakthrough of mRNA vaccines is fundamentally changing the biotechnology industry, which is also reflected in the high shareholder return of these companies.

Medical equipment companies face ongoing supply chain challenges due to COVID-19. Nevertheless, the medical equipment subsector is experiencing a post-pandemic rebound in demand as previously postponed elective treatments are finally pursued. After very few M&A deals in early 2020, the medical equipment M&A market was making up for lost time in 2021 with players gaining scale and establishing or pushing market leader positions through investments in high-growth areas.

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IFBC Sector Report 2022 - Life Science & Healthcare (publication in German)