Влияние сделок по слияниям и поглощениям на инвестиции в НИОКР на фармакологическом рынке США в период пандемии COVID-19 / The impact of mergers and acquisitions on the R&D investment in the US pharmaceutical market during the COVID-19 pandemic

Казанин Никита Андреевич

Аннотация


This topic is relevant because it directly intersects with the goal of health and well-being, as mergers and acquisitions affect what prices buyers will have in the market and necessary medicines. And the fact that R&D is a key milestone in the pharmaceutical sector is linked to SDG Goal 9 on innovation and infrastructure. The main motivation is that the vaccine was needed during the pandemic, so it remains to be seen whether mergers and acquisitions were indeed an important tool for its invention during this period.

In the literature, I was able to find a correlation between M&A deals and the financial performance included in my research. Mergers and acquisitions have also been found to have a negative impact on R&D activities, as competition and market capture come to the fore during these operations.

As a methodology, I used panel data analysis using fixed and random effects. At the same time, two hypotheses were put forward: The number of mergers and acquisitions has a negative impact on the research activities of firms. Mergers and acquisitions spending has a positive effect on the research activities of firms. The study period is from 2019 to 2022, 36 companies.

Indicators: the intensity of R&D spending and the relative volume of mergers and acquisitions were taken to study firms regardless of their size and costs. The remaining indicators were taken based on the studied literature. They help to reflect the relationship of mergers and acquisitions most accurately with R&D costs.

Having received the results of the regressions, we cannot reject our hypotheses and can state that the number of M&A deals reduces the activity of R&D, and the amount of M&A expenses increases this indicator. In addition, the control variables work according to the literature.

During the work, two key conclusions were obtained. First, the more deals are made, the less incentive there is to invest in R&D. This is since with many transactions, the company wins a large market share. And the greater the market share, the less competition. The less competition, the less incentive to develop and explore something new. Secondly, because the amount of the transaction indicates the value of the company being bought, that is, the presence of unique resources or knowledge. It is concluded that the larger the transaction amount, the more attractive it will be for the company to use these resources and knowledge in the direction of innovation, to obtain financial benefits as a result.

As recommendations, I would like to note that although this study takes place within one country, the recommendations can apply to all countries, since in this example there are no strict restrictions on the choice of a country. On the contrary, US-headquartered companies are active globally and are transnational.

Since it is the number of transactions that reduces the engine of progress, it is proposed to create a limit on the number of such transactions. Currently, each transaction is considered separately, regardless of how many transactions the company has already had. Therefore, this restriction will help improve the situation on the market. Also, although the size of transactions increases the intensity of R&D spending, if companies were given the opportunity to use knowledge or unique resources for a fee, this would reduce their costs, because of which free money could go to research and innovation for a larger scale.