China partnerships drive biopharma’s biggest deal month since 2023

Biopharma deal value through the first five months of 2026 reached $135.36 billion, outpacing every prior year and topping 2025’s previous high of $103.92 billion. May was the year’s biggest month so far at $41.78 billion in transactions, making it one of the strongest individual months on record, and far outpacing April’s $13.87 billion. May 2026 comes in third in recent years in terms of deal value, after October 2023’s $44.91 billion and December 2022’s $42.45 billion.