Medicine Factory
Medicine FactoryReuters

On Monday, 14 July, Pharmaceutical Company Mylan Inc announced the acquisition of Abbott Laboratories in markets outside the United States, with an aim to cut their tax bill using tax inversion methods.

In the past too many such deals have been seen and big names have merged with or acquired smaller or sick companies for either tax evasions or expansions.

Here's the list of top 10 pharmaceutical merger and acquisition deals announced in the last five years. However, the list excludes spin off's.

Announced Date Value in $ million Acquirer Acquired Firm
Name Country Name Target nation
18 Feb 2014 28,407 Actavis plc United States Forest Laboratories Inc United States
22 April 2014 54,652. Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc Canada Allergan Inc United States
22 April 2014 23,050 Novartis AG, GlaxoSmithKline plc Switzerland, United Kingdom GlaxoSmithKline's oncology portfolio, R&D activities & AKT inhibitor rights / Novartis' vaccines business United Kingdom
6 May 2014 14,200 Bayer AG Germany Merck & Co Inc (Consumer Care Business) United States
20 June 2014 56,064.4 AbbVie Inc United States Shire plc United Kingdom
30 June 2013 10,248.2 Amgen Inc United States ONYX Pharmaceuticals Inc United States
19 May 2011 13,682 Takeda Pharmaceutical Co Ltd Japan Nycomed SCA SICAR Switzerland
21 July 2011 35,017.9 Express Scripts Inc United States Medco Health Solutions Inc United States
21 November 2011 11,017.1 Gilead Sciences Inc United States Pharmasset Inc United States
29 August 2010 24,476.7 Sanofi-Aventis SA France Genzyme Corp United States

Source: Dealogic