In an interview published by Corporate Counsel, Baker McKenzie Partners Alan Zoccolillo and Piotr Korzynski spoke with Deny-Jean Silny, Bayer AG's Head of Legal M&A, about his transition to his current role, key takeaways from the company's recent deals and larger trends in pharma M&A. Alan and Piotr have worked closely with Deny-Jean and the Bayer AG team in recent years, representing the company in its USD4 billion acquisition of Asklepios BioPharmaceutical, Inc. and in its USD2 billion acquisition of Vividion Therapeutics, Inc.
Focusing on the future, Deny-Jean shared his prediction that pharma M&A activity will increase in 2022 compared to 2021, explaining how "many pharma companies are continuing to focus on their 'core' activities, whether by further investing in biopharma assets to define, grow or broaden a core business or to divest a noncore product portfolio or business." This focus, along with "the existing financial resources available in the pharma sector, including additional cash on hand from numerous divestitures," may lead to this increase. Deny-Jean also shared a few words of wisdom for in-house lawyers, advising "to not act as a naysayer but rather look for pragmatic solutions wherever possible to valuably support your stakeholders in reaching their objectives."
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