Report finds surge in AI-related healthtech M&A's

The number of AI-related healthtech transactions has doubled every six months since the second half of 2017, reaching 10% of all deals by the end of 2019, according to a report from Hampleton Partners.

The international technology mergers and acquisitions advisors’ report says that overall healthtech transactions have seen a healthy rebound after dropping significantly in the second half of 2016 and the first half of 2017. Volumes increased by 14% compared to the first half of 2019 and 27% compared to the same period last year.

The majority of recent disclosed healthtech transactions were aimed at process efficiency, primarily tackling mounting cost pressures and inefficiencies across the healthcare industry but also tackling new challenges.

Jonathan Simnett, director, Hampleton Partners, said: “The phenomenal progress being made in healthcare technology, including genomics, is generating exabytes of data that need analysis, storage and security. That puts the spotlight on AI and machine learning companies which can comb through this massive data pool to extract what’s needed to deliver the tailored therapies, drug discovery and care delivery that the sector wants to achieve.

“The number of AI targets is rising exponentially as the early movers and pioneers in this space are maturing and becoming ripe for sale. It’s also an illustration of the softening in data privacy concerns by the medical establishment and patients.”

Hampleton expects this trend to continue during 2020 and beyond, driven by mounting cost pressures to drive transition to prevention and precision in medicine, as well as research efficiencies.  

According to a recent paper published in the journal Cell, researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology reported that AI had been used to discover a potent new antibiotic, Halicin, which was able to kill 35 powerful bacteria, in the global fight against drug resistance. 

Jonathan Simnett added: “Given the pressure on health systems worldwide - ever-rising costs, ageing populations, lifestyle diseases and rising patient expectations, not to mention the threat from rapidly spreading epidemics such a coronavirus - healthcare providers are having to turn to new technologies if they have any hope of maintaining and enhancing future healthcare services.  

“That, in turn, is driving a very active healthcare M&A market as companies compete for acquisitions in AI as a strategy to support innovation and seek to dominate technology sectors such as medical data analysis.”