2023 Deal-Making Roundup

Last updated: OCT 23, 2025

Introduction

During 2023, the biopharma industry achieved a total potential deal value (PDV) of $186.9 billion across 718 alliances. While deal volume for alliances saw a substantial drop in 2023, the overall aggregate value was $10 billion more than 2022. Once again, oncology was the most active therapeutic area for partnering, with deals focused on antibody drug conjugates (ADCs) leading the way.

Similarly, merger and acquisition volumes showed a slight decrease (7%) from the previous year, with 135 deals together valued at $158.2 billion, but the aggregate deal value rose significantly (83%) from 2022. The M&A values were also significantly higher than in 2022 largely due to 27 deals having values of a billion dollars or greater, four of which were more than $10 billion. Acquisitions of ADC-focused companies were also prominent in 2023.

Biopharma financing, which brought in an aggregate $74.2 billion, also saw a decline in the number of transactions (936 vs. 960 in 2022) but exceeded overall 2022 values ($66.6 billion) by 11%, with the average deal value increasing by 14%.

In the medtech industry, financing activity saw a decline in both dollars and deal volume in 2023 ($8.9 billion for 300 deals vs. $13 billion for 356 deals in 2022). M&A activity was particularly strong, with seven separate billiondollar-plus acquisitions; however, total 2023 medtech M&A spend was $26.5 billion from 80 deals, decreasing from $34.3 billion from 92 deals in 2022.

This report provides an overview of alliance, merger and acquisition, and financing deal activity across the worldwide biopharma, medical device, and in vitro diagnostics industries during 2023 as reported by Biomedtracker. The overall data is presented across deal types, therapy areas, and payment or financing structures. The top deals by dollar value in each space are closely detailed. Note that PDV is defined as the sum of disclosed up-front payment(s) plus any announced or received pre- or post-commercialization milestone payment(s).