Following a 2022 slowdown in dealmaking activity due to rising valuations and high interest rates, pharma M&A activity began to speed up at the end of 2023—and experts say they expect the momentum to continue in 2024 and beyond.

Analysts at consulting firm PwC expect global deals to total between $225–$275 billion in 2024. In comparison, deals totaled $135.5 billion in 2023 and $98.5 billion in 2022, according to data from the London Stock Exchange Group, as cited by Axios.

“There’s a lot of pent-up demand,” Jennifer O’Brien, an M&A partner at management consulting firm West Monroe, told Healthcare Brew. “There’s a lot of capital out there.”

Keep reading here.—MA

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Breakthroughs in healthcare are happening now. GE HealthCare experts anticipate three key areas where we can expect positive change from the industry.

Thanks in part to the increased use of telehealth and virtual care, democratized healthcare is on the list.

This shift can happen as more healthcare administrators embrace technology to deliver more accessible, cost-effective models of care. Coupled with advancements in connected devices, AI, and cloud solutions, we’re seeing continued change in how and where patients receive care.

Diagnosis, monitoring, and treatment are no longer confined to a single hospital or health system. New tech is helping decentralize access to advanced imaging and diagnostic equipment, and expanding care services to more remote and underserved communities.

Over the next decade, these influences could transform access to healthcare. Learn more about healthcare’s next big breakthroughs.

Healthcare investors expect the market to pick back up this year after a slow year for dealmaking in 2023.

The number of deals made in the healthcare industry in 2023 was “significantly lower” compared to prior years due to economic pressures like inflation and high costs of capital, according to a January 2024 report from management consulting firm Boston Consulting Group (BCG). But Bob Lavoie, a managing director and senior partner in BCG’s healthcare practice, told Healthcare Brew he’s “optimistic” about 2024.

“When you look at the overall landscape, I think that there continues to be a lot of general innovation in this space and a lot of excitement about what’s coming for 2024,” Lavoie said. “That’s a really good backdrop of fundamental demand.”

Keep reading here.—MA

AT&T is expanding its partnership with Maven Clinic, a virtual care provider for women’s and family health, to offer fertility and family building benefits to employees.

Since 2021, AT&T has offered postpartum and pregnancy/newborn support to all of its employees through Maven, according to Victoria DeCarmine, corporate communications director, via email. Through this benefit, employees can connect with an ob-gyn virtually in between their prenatal appointments or meet with lactation consultants, for example. Employees who travel for work can also ship their breast milk through Maven.

With this expansion, which started Jan. 1, all of AT&T’s 125,000 employees have access to virtual guidance from Maven when considering reproductive services such as egg freezing, IVF, adoption, and surrogacy, according to DeCarmine. AT&T has covered fertility treatments such as intrauterine insemination and in-vitro fertilization in their medical plans since 2018, but the Maven partnership is intended to provide “wraparound support,” as well as emotional support, for employees at different points in their family-building journeys.

Keep reading at HR Brew.—CV

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