Excitement for an M&A wave was high to start the year, before cooling due to market uncertainty as a result of global tariffs formally enacted in April. Recent trade talks have helped markets to rebound, and a flurry of IPO and M&A activity this week is a positive signal for deal momentum in 2025.
For the remainder of this year, experts expect deal activity to gain momentum in some pockets, particularly within the healthcare and technology sectors. Recent notable deals sent biopharma surging 101% in total deal value quarter-over-quarter in Q1 2025, highlighting the trajectory of value-driven AI solutions in the tech sector.
Building upon deal trends in the private equity and venture capital sectors, we leverage expert insights from the AlphaSense platform to gain a better understanding of how the M&A landscape is adapting to a post-tariff environment, and where opportunities may exist across industries.
Appetite for Healthcare Deals “Remains High”
Equity research sourced from the AlphaSense platform reveals that M&A appetite “remains high” despite tariff headwinds and macroeconomic uncertainty, largely because many pharma companies are facing patent cliffs that will continue to intensify the need for new deals.
There are currently 190 drug patents set to expire by 2030, and it is likely that companies facing patent cliffs will be key players exploring strategic acquisitions. It is expected that smaller biotech firms and midsized companies offering promising innovations, particularly in high-demand therapeutic areas such as oncology, immunology, neuroscience, and cardio-metabolic conditions, will be highly attractive targets.
Related Reading: Biotech and Pharma M&A: 2025 Outlook
A former VP Global Medical Affairs, Neuroscience at Johnson & Johnson believes the recent acquisition of Intracellular Therapies was a “perfect fit” for JNJ’s development priorities:
Speaking on CDMOs, a former director at Samsung Biologics believes that those capable of expanding their geographic footprint gain strategic advantages, as observed with Lonza’s $1.2 billion acquisition in 2024 from Roche, the parent company of Genentech. Having on-shore facilities may pose an interesting angle to bypass tariff policies and maintain production surplus:
Related Reading: AlphaSense Sector Spotlight - How synergistic is JNJ’s planned acquisition of ITCI, and what is the outlook for future JNJ acquisitions?
AI Driving Tech Deals
The prevalence of AI investment has undoubtedly dominated as a theme for M&A in 2025, across corporate, private equity, and venture capital deals, and is expected to continue driving deal momentum even during lulls.
At the end of April, Palo Alto Networks announced its acquisition of Protect AI, highlighting the ongoing need for cloud architecture and AI-driven solutions: “The combination of Protect AI and Palo Alto Networks is going to create a powerful better together opportunity for our customers and deliver a comprehensive platform for end-to-end AI security, from data, model artifact security to what we talked about today, run time and agentic AI system defenses.”
In an expert call with the Head of Global Partner Marketing at Amazon Web Services, Palo Alto has distinguished its agentic AI offering through the recent acquisition:
Related Reading:AlphaSense Sector Spotlight - How is AI affecting strategy at security software vendors?
Adaptation as the New Normal
The tricky macroeconomic backdrop is forcing dealmakers to find ways to adapt to the post-tariff environment as the new normal. With the Federal Reserve expected to keep interest rates steady, many private equity stakeholders find themselves in prolonged exit delay with the need to realize gains and deploy dry powder capital for new ventures.
“With all the back and forth on tariffs, ‘maybe some of it's real, long-term tariffs, some of it's just negotiation.
Navigating Complex Deal Environments with AlphaSense
To navigate a complex deal environment and macroeconomic uncertainty, you need trusted insights from leading industry experts that have a pulse on the competitive landscape.
AlphaSense’s library of more than 185,000 expert transcripts is unparalleled and spans 24,000 companies, including 18,000 private companies and 82,000 private market transcripts. You can directly consult the source of truth to weigh in on the trends and themes affecting M&A activity. Our library of expert insights is just one facet of our expansive content universe — which includes company and regulatory documents, news, and broker research — for a complete picture of any market, industry, or trend.
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