Gary W. Herschman, Anjana D. Patel, and Zachary Taylor, attorneys in the Health Care & Life Sciences practice, in the firm’s Newark office, were quoted in Bloomberg Health Law & Business News, in “Pharma, Device Deals Lead Pack as Health-Care Mergers Accelerate,” by Sara Hansard.

Following is an excerpt:

Health-care mergers and transactions surged in August, led by activity in the pharmaceutical and medical device sectors.

The 1,125 deals announced or closed by the end of August were well ahead of the 900 deals for the same period in 2019.

There were 166 deals in August alone. That number was the highest since January, attorneys and health-care analysts reported. …

Investor Interest Increases …

Deals in the health information technology and software sector dipped to 20 in August. However, activity in this sector is still at one the highest levels in recent times, Anjana Patel, a member of Epstein Becker Green and its National Health Care and Life Sciences Steering Committee, said. ...

“Investors see big payoffs from the pandemic’s continued effect on these sectors’ ability to handle and innovate in light of the high volume usage of these platforms,” Patel said. …

Cannabis Sector Exceeds Expectations

Activity in the cannabis sector this year continued to exceed expectations, Zachary Taylor, an associate in the health-care and life sciences practice of Epstein Becker Green, said.

“This growth is likely due to the widespread confidence that more and more states will be expanding medical marijuana, as well as recreational use, over the next several years,” he said.

Five states will vote on legalizing marijuana this November: Arizona (recreational); Mississippi (medical); Montana (recreational); New Jersey (recreational); and South Dakota (medical and recreational), Taylor said. The Democratic Party, particularly vice presidential candidate Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), favors the decriminalization of marijuana, and that could be affecting the sector’s growth, he said.

The physician services sector, with nearly 20 deals in August, had a significant increase from the six transactions in July, Gary Herschman, a member of Epstein Becker Green’s health-care and life sciences practice, said.

The sector “is demonstrating a strong rebound since the initial COVID shutdowns and restrictions,” Herschman said. Deals included six primary care groups and multiple deals in orthopedics, eye care, and dermatology, he said.

“We expect this robust level of deals in this sector to continue, or increase, in the remaining months of the year,” Herschman said.

Physician groups, “hit over their heads with the ‘Covid bat'—continue to seek to join larger, well-capitalized organizations with strong corporate infrastructure,” he said.

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