Patent Expiration as a Decisive Factor of Pharmaceutical Firms’ M&As

The Management Science and Entrepreneurship Group is delighted to welcome Marta F. Arroyabe to our seminar series to present her paper, titled 'Patent Expiration as a Decisive Factor of Pharmaceutical Firms’ M&As'.

Event abstract

This paper focuses on the importance of firms’ patent expiration rates on managers’ decision of engaging in M&As, in light of the innovation capabilities of the firm. While controlling for the usual M&As triggering factors, this study shows that indeed patent expiration is a good predicting factor of pharmaceutical firms’ M&As activity. The likelihood of firms’ engaging on M&As, in the event of patent expiration, is however negatively affected by the firms’ R&D efforts and basic research base. This study highlights the importance of innovation in pharmaceutical firms’ M&As’ decision and provides new lenses through which M&As can be studied, complementing the existing and scarce literature on the topic.