---
title: "Has the biotech sector entered an upward cycle? Driven by a wave of M&A + AI dual engines! How should investors get on board?"
type: "Topics"
locale: "en"
url: "https://longbridge.com/en/topics/42310504.md"
description: "$Direxion S&P Biotech Bull 3X(LABU.US) In June alone, the pharmaceutical industry has already seen multiple multi-billion-dollar acquisitions. Germany's $Merck(MRK.US) announced it will acquire Bio-Techne for up to $11.3 billion, setting the record for the largest acquisition in over a decade. $Abbvie(ABBV.US) announced a $10.9 billion acquisition of immunotherapy company Apogee..."
datetime: "2026-06-30T09:18:01.000Z"
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author: "[热点君](https://longbridge.com/en/profiles/1450684.md)"
---

# Has the biotech sector entered an upward cycle? Driven by a wave of M&A + AI dual engines! How should investors get on board?

$Direxion S&P Biotech Bull 3X(LABU.US)

In June alone, the pharmaceutical industry has already seen several multi-billion-dollar acquisitions. Germany's $Merck(MRK.US) announced it will acquire **Bio-Techne** for up to $11.3 billion, setting a record for the largest acquisition in over a decade. $Abbvie(ABBV.US) announced a $10.9 billion acquisition of immunotherapy company Apogee, and $GSK(GSK.US) also announced a $10.6 billion acquisition of the US biotech company Nuvalent to strengthen its oncology pipeline.

A report released by investment bank Stifel predicts that if the current pace of M&A continues, **the total value of M&A in the biopharmaceutical industry could exceed $250 billion by 2026.**  
  
The core driver behind the large-scale acquisitions is the immense pressure from the "patent cliff" on major pharmaceutical companies. **To compensate for future revenue gaps, a massive M&A wave has emerged in the industry. Pharma giants must "restock" promising pipelines in advance, or even directly step in to buy companies at a premium (including listed small and mid-cap pharma companies).** Among them, companies like $Eli Lilly(LLY.US) $Gilead Sciences(GILD.US) rank high in terms of acquisition spending.

A recent Synaptic research report, having recently conducted due diligence on over 110 startups covering AI drug discovery, pointed out that **for the pharmaceutical industry, the prospects are very broad: faster target discovery, more efficient candidate drug screening, and a higher probability of drugs entering clinical trials.**

**Artificial intelligence can now even design molecules before any wet lab experiments begin. Models like AlphaFold 3, ESM3, and Chai-2 can predict and generate biological structures before experiments start—this is reshaping the way new drugs are discovered.**

**With AI drug discovery accelerating and catalyzing this process,** follow the latest stock list【AI Healthcare-US】$Recursion Pharmaceuticals(RXRX.US) $Relay Therapeutics(RLAY.US) $Solaredge Tech(SEDG.US) $Absci(ABSI.US)

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