2025’s biggest healthcare deals

As guaranteed as a new Hallmark movie at this time of year, so comes Healthcare Brew’s rundown of the biggest deals of 2025.

We reviewed public notices of the largest mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and buyouts so far this year in collaboration with global market data research company PitchBook to create a list of the biggest US healthcare M&A as of Dec. 10.

PitchBook collects information by tracking control acquisitions and leveraged buyouts, including asset acquisitions, corporate divestitures, corporate asset purchases, spinoffs, and asset divestitures. Final deal values represent the total amount of equity and debt used in the transaction.

Here’s PitchBook’s list of the 10 largest deals of 2025:

1. Pharma and medical device company Abbott announced the acquisition of molecular diagnostics company Exact Sciences for $23 billion on Nov. 20.
2. Private equity firms Blackstone and TPG agreed to acquire women’s health company Hologic for $18.3 billion on Oct. 21.
3. Lab equipment company Waters Corp. announced July 14 the acquisition of medtech Becton, Dickinson and Company’s biosciences and diagnostic solutions business for $17.5 billion.
4. Biopharmaceutical company Intra-Cellular Therapies entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by Johnson & Johnson for $14.6 billion on Jan. 13.
5. Biotech Novartis said it will acquire RNA therapeutics company Avidity Biosciences Oct. 26 for $12 billion.
6. On Nov. 13, Pfizer acquired biotech Metsera for $10 billion.
7. Pharma Sanofi announced the acquisition of biotech Blueprint Medicines on June 2 for up to $9.5 billion.
8. Thermo Fisher said it will acquire data management company Clario for up to $9.4 billion on Oct. 29.
9. Tech company Qualtrics signed an agreement to acquire health tech Press Ganey Forsta on Oct. 6 for $6.8 billion.
10. Drug companies Endo International and Mallinckrodt announced a $6.7 billion merger March 13.

Industry outlook. Michael Abrams, managing partner at consultancy Numerof & Associates, told us via email that healthcare provider M&A was “muted overall” in 2025.

“Dealmakers shifted toward mid-market and distress-driven transactions, reflecting tight margins, labor pressures, and heightened antitrust scrutiny of large specialty-specific rollups,” he said.

Overall, deals were down from 1,840 in 2024 to 1,485 this year, according to PitchBook.

“Behavioral health and home/post-acute care continued to draw strategic and sponsor interest, while hospital systems focused on financial stabilization, selective partnerships, and divestitures of non-core or rural assets,” Abrams added.

Looking ahead, Abrams said he expects 2026 will have “modestly higher but more selective” provider M&A that’s “focused on financially stressed assets, targeted specialty platforms, and partnerships that enhance care coordination and cost efficiency.”