Lazard releases 2020 global healthcare study

NEW YORK, July 16, 2020 – Lazard Ltd (NYSE: LAZ) today released its third annual in-depth study of strategic challenges and opportunities in the global healthcare industry, surveying C level executives and investors across three global sectors: Pharmaceuticals and Biotech; MedTech; and Healthcare Services. This year’s study focuses on the industry leaders’ response to the COVID-19 pandemic, including their greatest concerns, challenges, and expectations.

The survey, conducted during the last week of May and first half of June 2020, revealed that almost two-thirds of healthcare industry leaders expect the pandemic to continue into the second half of 2021 or beyond – a notably longer time frame than that expressed by many government leaders. The healthcare leaders’ opinions are driven mainly by their expectations for the development of an effective vaccine, which almost three-quarters of them believe will not be widely available until the second half of 2021 or later.

“Healthcare industry leaders’ single biggest concern is the availability of an effective vaccine to prevent infections. They are sober about the length of time it will likely take to develop widely available effective vaccines to bring the COVID-19 pandemic under control, and they expect this will not happen until well into 2021, if not later,” said David Gluckman, Global Head of Lazard’s Healthcare Group. “On the other hand, most are optimistic that there will be a widely available vaccine. We are seeing unprecedented levels of effort, collaboration and capital invested at risk to accelerate finding a solution.”

“Although larger strategic transactions for healthcare companies have become more difficult during this period due to factors such as valuation uncertainty, the majority of executives believe the pause will be followed by a surge in activity beginning in 2021,” said Stephen Sands, Chairman of Lazard’s Global Healthcare Group. “Strategic imperatives that were relevant before the downturn – the need to propel growth and innovation – will remain the main catalysts for M&A in the mid and long term.”