- AbbVie's recent deal for the pharmaceutical company Allergan is the latest in a string of healthcare M&A this year that has shifted the pharmaceutical industry's landscape.
- AbbVie is betting on Allergan's cosmetic products, like Botox, and other medical areas like women's health, neuroscience, eye care, and more.
- Analysts at Stifel say four biotechs could also be the next takeover targets: Revance Therapeutics, TherapeuticsMD, Aerie Pharmaceuticals, and Kala Pharmaceuticals.
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US drugmaker AbbVie just announced a mega-deal to buy pharmaceutical company Allergan for about $63 billion.
It's only the latest in a string of active healthcare deals this year, with Bristol-Myers Squibb's $74 billion proposed acquisition of Celgene and Eli Lilly's $8 billion agreement to buy the biotech Loxo Oncology in January.
With Tuesday's deal, AbbVie is betting on Allergan cosmetic products like the well-known filler Botox and fat-freezing procedure CoolSculpting.
But the drugmaker also clearly values Allergan's other medical treatments in areas like women's health, neuroscience, eye care and more, noted Stifel analysts Annabel Samimy and Nick Runibo.
"This demonstration of interest could bring a host of other transactions that complement and build on franchises that [AbbVie] appears more committed to than [Allergan] has been," they said.
There is, of course, no guarantee of future dealmaking, but this latest acquisition could foreshadow a "rebalancing" in Big Pharma, opening up doors to areas that have historically not gotten much interest, the Stifel team pointed out.
Here are four biotechs that could also get acquired by AbbVie, thanks to its new focus.
