The JP Morgan conference uptick in biopharma deal-making has begun with more than 20 deals announced this week, including the latest Bayer/Evotec partnership and Pfizer’s cancer tie-up with eFFECTOR.

Celgene won the first approval for a drug developed under its aggressive deal-making strategy in 2017 and several potential blockbusters in its partnered pipeline are edging closer to the market. Ozanimod will soon face regulatory approval, but the next-in-line acquired asset GED-0301 had a major setback. Scrip considers the contribution externally derived products have made – and will make – to Celgene’s business.

As more biopharmaceutical companies become profitable and global, tax strategy becomes an increasingly important aspect of deal-making and intellectual property management. Deals of the Week looks at recent tax winners, new tax tactics and potential deal targets that are attractive in part because of their high – or low – tax rates.

Biopharma financing totaled $6.4 billion, a 39% increase over Q3. Twenty-three M&As were completed with a combined potential value of $19.8 billion, and there were 103 biopharma alliances totaling $2.5 billion in potential pre-commercialization value, down 25% from the previous quarter.