New West Monroe Research Shows Life Sciences M&A Rebounds -- but Execution Will Separate Winners

As AI factors into 93% of life sciences deals, AI "readiness"— from data governance to workforce adoption — is essential to unlocking deal value

CHICAGO, Dec. 4, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- West Monroe, a global business and technology firm, today released new research showing life sciences dealmaking has regained momentum, but the drivers of success have shifted: speed of execution, AI and digital maturity, and cultural integration now determine who captures the most value.

The report, The Next Wave of Life Sciences M&A: Navigating Policy, Power, and Progress, draws on West Monroe's deep practitioner experience in M&A and life sciences as well as a fresh survey of 250 private-equity firms and strategic acquirers. Together, they map where deal activity is moving — and explain why.

"Macroeconomic volatility has pushed many acquirers into a defensive stance, but momentum hasn't disappeared," said Kate Festle, head of Healthcare & Life Sciences M&A at West Monroe and co-author of the report. "Deal volume alone won't win this cycle. The most agile dealmakers are turning uncertainty into an advantage — using policy intelligence to anticipate headwinds and pairing scientific potential and AI with digital rigor to convert that potential into operational performance. Those that can do it faster will capture the upside."

Three core findings from the research include:

• Dealmaking is back in life sciences. Activity is rebounding: 68% of respondents expect more acquisitions in the next two years, and only 7% plan none.
• AI is a core value lever. AI is central or considered in 93% of transactions and post-close AI investments are already delivering measurable returns for 3 in 4 dealmakers.
• Policy complicates, but doesn't stall deals. Drug pricing reforms and trade rules have the strongest policy influences on M&A, while the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) initiative is viewed twice as positively (29%) than negatively (14%) with one-third (33%) saying it has no impact on dealmaking whatsoever.

To capture the upside from accelerated dealmaking in the life sciences sector, acquirers must elevate execution as a front-and-center priority. That means planning integration earlier—aligning people, data, and workflows during diligence, not after signing. It means treating AI as core infrastructure and investing in scalable data foundations, governance, and performance metrics that turn ambition into measurable outcomes. And it means pairing new technology with deliberate workforce enablement, so digital capabilities are adopted, operationalized, and converted into sustained post-close value.

West Monroe's Next Wave of Life Sciences survey was conducted by Rep Data and fielded in Q3 2025. Respondents included 250 dealmakers in the life sciences and biotech sectors, 125 strategic respondents and 125 private equity respondents. It can be found at https://www.westmonroe.com/insights/the-next-wave-of-life-sciences-ma 

About West Monroe

West Monroe is a global business and technology consulting firm passionate about creating value for our clients. We co-create solutions that accelerate results now and prepare industries to tackle what's next. We're excited by the possibilities that technology creates. We work with our clients to deliver on the possible, building on their goals, generating fresh insights and creating inspiring outcomes.

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SOURCE West Monroe