The slowdown in deal activity in the life sciences sector that was seen in 2016 continued in H1 2017 with many large pharmaceutical companies being reticent to commit to high-value deals. Deal volumes in H1 2017 were depressed relative to H1 2016. Appetite for M&A, in particular, was significantly reduced in H1 2017 with the number of deals down 23% on the same period the previous year, although there was significant activity in certain subsectors. Big pharma mostly abstained from M&A, with only Johnson & Johnson (J&J) and Takeda Pharmaceutical signing multibillion-dollar deals. Despite overall deal activity being constrained, licensing activity continued at a broadly similar pace to H1 2016 but upfront payments were down on average (if two high-value patent licensing settlements are removed from the data set). J&J assumed the title of the most prolific dealmaker, signing twice as many deals in H1 2017 as the second-ranked company, Merck & Co. Oncology continued to be the most popular therapy area for dealmaking, although there were fewer high-value deals in the immuno-oncology sector than in H1 2016. Collaborative R&D alliances were notably fewer and far between in H1 2017, reflecting increasingly focused partnering strategies and the availability of a variety of financing options for biotech companies.