Transformation of the Pharmaceutical Industry

No industry has seen as much fervent activity in the last 15 years as the pharmaceutical industry. Since Pfizer bought Warner-Lambert in January 2000, at least 10 deals with a value higher than 40 billion U.S. dollars have been made. Thanks to this transformation, the pharmaceutical industry became truly global, and the efforts to develop new drugs got much greater financial backing. Write on this industry transformation. Address the following issues in your paper:

1) Critically analyse what drove this wave of mergers and acquisitions. Concentrate on synergies (both operational and financial), tax issues, research costs, marketing, and other kinds of drivers.

2) Choose one specific deal exceeding 40 billion dollars and synthesise its benefits and costs. Critically evaluate whether it has fulfilled its shareholders' objectives.

3) Perform a critical analysis of the deal you chose from a financial point of view. Explore the value of the deal and whether it can be judged as justified (use discounted value analysis and comparable transaction analysis in your reasoning). Explore the stock prices prior to and after the acquisition and analyse these moves critically.